by Eric Edwards
You’d think a romantic comedy named after an event that occurs only once every four years would be something special. Well, Leap Year (opening today) isn’t.
Anna (Amy Adams) and Jeremy (Adam Scott) are a seemingly perfect, upwardly mobile couple. They are both attractive, great at their jobs and have bright futures. What they aren’t is married and Jeremy doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to propose.
Thus, when business takes Jeremy to Ireland, Anna decides to follow him and take advantage of a popular Irish custom in which women propose to men on February 29. Due to inclement weather, one of her connecting flights is canceled and everything goes awry as she tries to make it to Dublin before leap-year day is over. Severely strapped for cash, hot innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) agrees to drive her to Dublin for a fee. Though they encounter endless mishaps along the way, I think you can figure out what happens.
This film suffers from severe formula-itis. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but director Anand Tucker (2005’s fine Shopgirl) doesn’t even try to give a fresh spin to the screenplay by Harry Elfont (who is also responsible for the equally forgettable Made of Honor). It is so obvious Anna and Jeremy do not belong together that the whole initial setup of the story lacks credibility.
By the time Anna meets Declan, I was wondering if maybe I should have gone to see Up In The Air for a second time. That said, it isn’t the worst thing currently playing at the box office and Newton Thomas Sigel’s breathtaking cinematography of the Irish countryside had me checking flights for the Emerald Isle as soon as I got home.
Pop Culture Nerd 
I might give this a go anyway for the scenery…
Me too I need My ireland fix!
As soon as Eric mentioned that the writer also wrote Made of Honor, I knew I wasn’t going. I hated that movie.
Like an idiot, I went to an early screening today without checking your site. Never again, PCN! Thanks for at least trying to save me some cash, Mr. Edwards.
I’m with Eric Edwards on this one. Saw an early screening late last year and was really underwhelmed.
So, will Eric be a regular reviewer in 2010?
Well, the L.A. Times agreed with your review….not so sure that’s a good thing though.
I’ll wait for the DVD, mainly because I, too, saw Made of Honor at the theater. P.S.- Broke up with the girl who dragged me to see it right afterwards. Still a fan of Kevin McKidd though.
Thanks, Eric. I think you confirmed what I thought this movie was going to be like. The other hint about it (by the studio) is that it’s being dumped on the first weekend in January. If they thought it had any good qualities, they would have held it for Valentine’s Day. Netflix for me, if I’m desperate ;-).
The local reviewer here didn’t like it either, precisely for the reasons you stated.
Well, it’s a pity the movie’s not good…
and that is one more disappointment to add to the list (after your review of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book and Eric Edward’s reviews of Invictus, Sherlock Holmes and Crazy heart)!
Thank you again PCN for helping us separating the wheat from the chaff!
I hope your patience will be rewarded and that you are going to enjoy a great movie or book very soon!
Wow, I thought this was a review from PCN, but it’s an other of Eric’s ones. So thank you Eric for your work, and I hope you’ll watch a movie up to your expectations soon!
Randy Edelman wrote the music for the movie he didn’t shoot it. Not only do we get bad movies nowadays but we get incompetent reviewers. I hope you don’t make money off of writing reviews!
LBT, my contributing writer wrote this review but I should’ve fact-checked it. The error has been corrected.
You are so right. I had looked it up on IMDB and, the way it was displayed…well, I looked at it too quickly. Newton Thomas Sigel (Superman Returns, X-Men, X2 and the upcoming Superman: Man Of Steel) did the cinematography for Leap Year. Randy Edelman served as composer.
I slipped up on that one and it should not have happened, but it doesn’t change the fact that the movie is sub-par.
Thanks for the spanking, LittleBIg Thing.
🙂 I like to stir up trouble. Randy Edelman forever!