LEAP YEAR (USA 2009) **
Directed by Anand Tucker

When told of her intentions of trip to Dublin on the 29th of February, character Declan (Mathew Goode) remarks that it is the stupidest thing he has heard so far.  To look deeper into the matter, using this premise as the idea of a romantic comedy is no stroke of genius on the filmmakers part.

When Jeremy (Adam Scott), the four year boyfriend has still nor proposed to her, Anna (Amy Adams) decides to matters into her own hands.  She flies from Boston to Dublin where Jeremy is attending a medical conference.  So she will use the old Irish tradition whereby a girl can propose to her man during a leap year on the 29th.  But weather forces her to land somewhere else in Ireland and to take a cab driven by handsome local Declan.  Script calls for them to fall in love according to silly Hollywood tradition.

Adams and Goode form a very good looking couple that should satisfy fans of the romantic comedy genre.  But they are no Bullock or Grant – though that is not saying much either.  At least the forced kiss the couple have to give is made believable primarily for the fact that they are forced to do it.  To be fair to the film, LEAP YEAR does have its moments given the genre limitations – such as the part of a wedding speech dealing with the words cheat, lie and steal.  Wedding speech preparers take note.

LEAP YEAR brings tears to ones eyes – not for reason of the script or acting but for just for a few of the majestic Irish sights like the rocky cliffs, countryside, sea and beaches.

At one point of his career, director Anand Tucker made the impressive drama HILARY AND JACKIE.  LEAP YEAR has its hilarious moments but never rises above the base level of predictable romantic comedy (by writers Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont of FLINTSTONES ROCK LAS VEGAS, MADE OF HONOR) but sinks instead into the mud that seems to be wherever the two main characters tread when out in the open.  In one scene, Amy Adams uses the phrase leap day by mistake instead of leap year.  Not correcting the scene just goes to show that the cast and crew did not put that much effort into this movie.