Leap Year

As romantic comedies go this was very good verging on excellent. Amy Adams, frustrated at not being married, decides to take matters into her own hands and using an old Irish tradition propose to her boyfriend on February 29 in Ireland where he is on a medical conference. Of course due to weather she doesn't make Dublin and has to go cross country with the 'help' of Matthew Goode. And the inevitable ensues.

Romantic comedies are about chemistry for me. (We know the formula so well these days that not much can surprise us in that regard.) Adams and Goode are excellent together and play off of one another very well. She is very likable as the driven New Yorker and he as the laid back slightly askew Irishman. It would have been nice if his back story was a little more complete but enough is given to make him believable. In addition I thought the resolving beats were weak and hearkened back to Nottinghill with Julie Roberts but again what new can be done when you are sticking to the formula? The closing beats didn't deter from the movie but you felt the screenwriters were cheating a bit. Or it is borrowing?

Finally the third character; Ireland. The cinematography is simply excellent. On this basis alone the movie is worth seeing. It is not only a movie it is a travelogue. The scenery is breathtaking.

A must rental if you like romantic comedies and an almost certain purchase if you like movies you can put into your player and forget about life for 90 minutes.

Leap Year, starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode, is a movie that follows a young woman's attempts to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day after hearing about an Irish tradition that claims that,in Ireland, women should propose to their boyfriends on Leap Day. After her boyfriend leaves for Ireland for business, she follows him to propose to him on this specific day. Howe ver, complications ensue and she has a hard time finding him as the clock ticks down on "Leap Day". She hires a bar owner/taxi driver (Matthew Goode) to take her to Dublin to find her boyfriend. Their journey to Dublin is comical and touching.

Overall, I felt the movie was cute, satisfying and well done. I had gone into the theatre not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. The scenery in the movie was beautiful - lots of shots of the rolling, green Irish hillsides, castles and lakes. The leads also were very cute together and were believable.

I would definitely reccomend this movie to teens and women looking for a light hearted romantic comedy that makes them smile throughout the movie. I was happily surprised, and I think you will be too.

Being Irish myself I was somewhat interested in checking out this rom com with Amy Adams, another excellent reason to see any movie.

So, legend has it that in Ireland a woman can propose to a man on the leap day of a leap year. When an anticipated proposal does not emanate from her doctor boyfriend, Anna hears of this legend and so she has to go to Dublin to propose. Imagine. Dublin.

So, Murphy's Law intervenes, and the flight gets diverted, to Wales, and to make a long story short has to take a really roundabout route to get there in a beat up old Renault 4, with an obnoxious yet somewhat charming Irish guy, who gives her no respect. And Murphy, well, he just keeps getting in the way, and will she even get to Dublin.

But, if you put a woman in a car with a charming Irish guy for any length of time, warm feelings can start to develop. So, things happen they way they do, and it's all done with great humor, the scenery is fantastic, it's like an Irish postcard at times. Amy Adams is amazing, and her costar, Matthew Goode is also excellent.

The one thing I will say is every Hollywood movie about Ireland has the obligatory cows blocking the road scene. It does happen, but come on.

I think you would really enjoy this movie, and I highly recommend it. If you like this type of movie, consider The Quiet Man (Collector's Edition), with John Wayne and Maureen O Hara, really the classic of its kind, and The Matchmaker[DVD] with Janeane Garofalo, and most recent Cecelia Ahern's movie P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank.

I hope you found this review helpful.