Quad Blogs

 Random Musings from the Entertainment Desk

“Leap Year” ain’t half bad

            “Leap Year” isn’t likely to win any Academy Awards this year when the big ceremony rolls around. I hope you were sitting down for that. Sorry, I should have provided adequate warning there.

            That being said, “Leap Year” isn’t a bad movie. It’s basically cinematic cotton candy. It’s sweet, fluffy and it will make you sick if you eat too much of it. Honestly though, who doesn’t love cotton candy?

            Sure you may not fess up to liking it when you’re around your health nut friends, but you know that somewhere, perhaps buried in your breadbox behind the wheat bread with “Flintstones” vitamins crushed up in it, is a bag of cotton candy. A wonderfully guilty pleasure.

            Some of the snobbier movie goers out there may turn their noses up at a romantic comedy like “Leap Year,” preferring instead to lavish praise on foreign films about people’s houses or fairy tale characters killing each other in the woods but there is nothing wrong with the movie. It’s an unpretentious, funny and entertaining bit of escapism that doesn’t try to pretend to be anything else.

            No identity crisis here.

            The always great Amy Adams stars as Anna Brady, an ambitious staging expert who is looking to settle down with her long time boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott). For those out there who don’t spend their free time immersed in the wonders of HGTV, allow me to explain what a staging expert is. Basically, they doll up your house to help you sell it faster. Think of them like Avon representatives, but for your house instead of your face.

            Anyway, it turns out that Jeremy, a cardiologist by trade and a jerk by nature, isn’t all that keen on popping the question. After he heads to Ireland for one of those cardiologist conventions that are so big there, Anna decides to try and take advantage of an old Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men once every four years on Leap Day, Feb. 29.

            She secretly follows Jeremy to Ireland, intending to surprise him with the proposal, but her plane is forced to land due to turbulence. And so begins an epic struggle with a bout of luck so bad that it would make a black cat seem like a rabbit’s foot by comparison. She hires a charming and ruggedly handsome local barkeep named Declan (Matthew Goode) to drive her across the country to her would be groom and surprise, surprise their initial horrible incompatibility soon reveals itself to be massive compatibility. I don’t think I’m stepping on too much by telling you that, unless you’re an absolute newbie when it comes to the romantic comedy formula.

            Sure “Leap Year” is a bit conventional, but the cast is just so darn likeable. Adams is absolutely bewitching as Anna, who has gotten used to applying her staging skills to her personal life, covering up what is actually going on with her. Adams has impeccable comedic timing and handles the physical gags and pratfalls like an old pro.

            Everything about Matthew Goode in “Leap Year” can be adequately summarized in the scruffy perfection of his beard. If you need more then that, well, he pulls off the mysterious and appealing Irish lad, even though he himself is in fact English-born. His onscreen chemistry with Adams makes for a very believable twist on the old “I don’t like you, ok now I do” cliché.       

              “Leap Year” is also served well by its supporting cast, which includes cameo appearances from some of TV’s better known and remembered talents, including Scott who made a name for himself as Griff on “Boy Meets World.” At this point in his career, I’m pretty certain that he could play a scum bag in his sleep, he’s done it so many times but he’s just so good at it.

            Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel deserves a ton of praise for stunning shots of the Irish countryside that populate the film. He takes an already gorgeous country and showcases it to perfection. Cheers.

            There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of cotton candy every now and then. A great example of “it is what it is,” “Leap Year” won’t expand your mind but, thanks to its ridiculously charming leads, talented supporting cast and gorgeous locations, it’s still worth the price of admission. After all, you can only have your mind expanded so many times anyway. Too much of that nonsense will make you sick.

Verdict: B