I guess deep inside I am a fan of romcoms hoping that the high art of making good, funny, memorable romantic comedies would reborn one day in one of the plentiful attempts and that's why I keep watching new movies in this genre that the TV commercials announce as the best and funniest romantic comedy we ever saw. Not too much luck so far but one keeps hoping.
"Leap Year" directed by Anand Tucker uses the same exact recipe for romantic comedy as thousands flicks did before it. A successful professional young woman Anna (Amy Adams) has a proper and perfect boyfriend, Jeremy (Adam Scott), the cardiologist with whom she is buying the posh apartment in the best Boston area, waits for the proposal with the ring, decides to use Irish Leap Year tradition to propose him instead and finds herself in some Irish country side instead of Dublin where her boyfriend-cardiologist is attending the conference. She employs the services of the young local inn-keeper named Declan (Matthew Goode) to get to Dublin even though she did not like the guy at all thinking of him rude bumpkin redneck - Irish style. He in turn sees her as a typical arrogant airhead American who calls her suitcase by the name (Louis Vuitton that is). He also finds her romantic idea of proposal to her boyfriend on February 29 of the leap year the most stupid thing ever. But she is willing to pay and he desperately needs money to upgrade the inn. So off the go - she in her $600 5 inches hills. Considering that she would have to do a lot of walking since the "classic" red little car that Declan offered as the means of transpiration was not very reliable to say the least, you might ask why Anna did not pack a pair of sneakers or comfortable walking shoes in her precious Louis Vuitton luggage? But I assume that walking, limping, stumbling in the high heels and felling on the country muddy roads during never-ending rain is one of the ingredients for the perfect romantic comedy recipe.
Number one rule in the romcom which sometimes works fine (It did indeed in "It Happened One Night") - if the girl and the boy hate each other in the beginning of the film and they are sent to a journey together, they may end up well not hating each other that much in the end. The film creators did not break any of the rules and it is up to us to believe in Ever after.
As predictable as it sounds, "Leap Year" is actually a pleasant little movie perhaps because two main characters are funny and likable as played by Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. I liked Goode especially. If I had to choose between him and Anna's materialistic boyfriend Jeremy, there would be no doubt in my mind from the beginning. Declan got charisma and sense of humor that make him irresistible. And he is cute, too. As an Irish travelogue, the movie is not bad at all and pleases the eye with some nice scenery. It is predictable in a cozy, uneventful way but you could have spent 100 minutes much worse - to watch Lars von Trier's "Antichrist", for example.
"Leap Year" directed by Anand Tucker uses the same exact recipe for romantic comedy as thousands flicks did before it. A successful professional young woman Anna (Amy Adams) has a proper and perfect boyfriend, Jeremy (Adam Scott), the cardiologist with whom she is buying the posh apartment in the best Boston area, waits for the proposal with the ring, decides to use Irish Leap Year tradition to propose him instead and finds herself in some Irish country side instead of Dublin where her boyfriend-cardiologist is attending the conference. She employs the services of the young local inn-keeper named Declan (Matthew Goode) to get to Dublin even though she did not like the guy at all thinking of him rude bumpkin redneck - Irish style. He in turn sees her as a typical arrogant airhead American who calls her suitcase by the name (Louis Vuitton that is). He also finds her romantic idea of proposal to her boyfriend on February 29 of the leap year the most stupid thing ever. But she is willing to pay and he desperately needs money to upgrade the inn. So off the go - she in her $600 5 inches hills. Considering that she would have to do a lot of walking since the "classic" red little car that Declan offered as the means of transpiration was not very reliable to say the least, you might ask why Anna did not pack a pair of sneakers or comfortable walking shoes in her precious Louis Vuitton luggage? But I assume that walking, limping, stumbling in the high heels and felling on the country muddy roads during never-ending rain is one of the ingredients for the perfect romantic comedy recipe.
Number one rule in the romcom which sometimes works fine (It did indeed in "It Happened One Night") - if the girl and the boy hate each other in the beginning of the film and they are sent to a journey together, they may end up well not hating each other that much in the end. The film creators did not break any of the rules and it is up to us to believe in Ever after.
As predictable as it sounds, "Leap Year" is actually a pleasant little movie perhaps because two main characters are funny and likable as played by Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. I liked Goode especially. If I had to choose between him and Anna's materialistic boyfriend Jeremy, there would be no doubt in my mind from the beginning. Declan got charisma and sense of humor that make him irresistible. And he is cute, too. As an Irish travelogue, the movie is not bad at all and pleases the eye with some nice scenery. It is predictable in a cozy, uneventful way but you could have spent 100 minutes much worse - to watch Lars von Trier's "Antichrist", for example.