Leap Year (2010)

Number Rolled: 6

Movie Name/Year: Leap Year (2010)

Tagline: Anna planned to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th. This is not her boyfriend.

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Length: 100 minutes

Rating: PG

Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Birnbaum/Barber, BenderSpink, Octagon Films

Producer: Su Armstrong, Gary Barber, Chris Bender, Roger Birnbaum, James Flynn, Jonathan Glickman, Cassidy Lange, Morgan O’Sullivan, Rebekah Rudd, J.C. Spink, Jake Weiner, Erin Stam

Director: Anand Tucker

Writer: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont

Actors: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow, Noel O’Donovan, Tony Rohr, Pat Laffan, Alan Devlin, Ian McElhinney, Dominique McElligott, Mark O’Regan, Maggie McCarthy, Peter O’Meara

Blurb from Netflix: Anna chooses February 29 to propose marriage to her boyfriend, but after meeting a charming innkeeper, she must evaluate her original plans.

Selina’s Point of View:

This film was dreck.

I was super excited to see Leap Year. I’d heard good things about it and I love Ireland-based movies. My favorite YouTuber is even Irish. (Jakesepticeye was on my top YouTubers list, but not at the top. After I wrote that, however, I saw more and more of his stuff and just fell absolutely in love with him. Now, his intro is my alarm and his outro is my ringtone.)

That being said, I was completely unimpressed with this movie.

Amy Adams (Trouble with the Curve, Man of Steel, American Hustle) definitely did nothing for me as the leading lady and I HATED her character. I didn’t find her likeable or relatable at all. She felt like a forced personality that was too annoying for me to care about.

Not only that, but the plot and script were so predictable that I was practically giving the actors their cues moments before they stepped on screen. There was nothing original about this film. It was as recipe as any movie could get. Like the writer was just trying to churn out the quickest film possible without bothering to care about the content.

Now, it wasn’t ALL bad.

Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Good Wife, The Imitation Game) was phenomenal in his part and his accent was so well done that I had NO idea he wasn’t Irish. The old men that served as comic relief were VERY funny, as well. I’d watch an entire film based around their superstitious banter. Finally, Randy Edelman (27 Dresses, The Big Green, Shanghai Noon) did amazing with the music. It was peppy and very Irish. It fit the beautiful settings and the feel of the movie really well.

Despite the good aspects, Leap Year was not my kind of movie and I don’t feel the need to ever watch it again.

Cat’s Point of View:

I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a rom-com, so you can imagine that I had an internal reaction of ‘oh joy’ when this was the movie that the dice chose for us. Though, that was before I actually started watching it. I’d forgotten that this one was set in Ireland. Of course, I would have watched anyway – because professionalism! It helped me to be considerably more enthusiastic about it, at least.

There’s a bit of a confession I need to make first. I might have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. I have a bit of a bias towards Ireland and things Irish. (‘A bit’ might be an understatement.) I love the sights and sounds of Ireland – from the music to the language…the rugged and pastoral landscape… it just calls to me in ways I can’t quite explain.

Why do I need to make this confession? This film was shot in – you guessed it! – Ireland. I digress.

Amy Adams (Julie & Julia, The Fighter, Her) was a good fit for this movie. Believable as both socialite go-getter with a plan for everything and as the redhead returning to her roots and besieged by Murphy’s Law; it was easy to get invested in her as the main character.

I had tears at one point in the movie. Sure, that’s nothing new for me; but I have to be really emotionally invested in something for it to happen.

The humor of this film was brilliant. In some places it was subtle and others it cracked you over the head, but I didn’t feel that anything was overdone. I could relate to the shenanigans that occurred along the main character’s adventure. (I’m Murphy’s redheaded stepchild, I swear.)

For an English lad, I must say that Matthew Goode (Match Point, Watchmen, Stoker) did a pretty good job with ‘being Irish.’ I couldn’t tell you if his accent was right or not, though. It seemed to be fine to me – but I was just enjoying hearing his voice speak it. His character helped the emotional aspect of the movie immensely.

Sure, this wasn’t the most original plot in the world. In fact, it was a remake of a Bollywood movie Jab We Met (2007) with a gender swap. I didn’t mind, though. I didn’t even mind that they got a bit of their geography turned around.

I would have liked to see more of John Lithgow (Dreamgirls, This is 40, Interstellar) utilized in the film. The brief scene he is involved with does appropriately set up the plot, though. For an actor of his caliber, though, it just seems like a waste.

Before I get too carried away, I’ll leave you with a final bit of trivia. Fans of the History Channel series Vikings (2013-) might find one of the film’s settings familiar. There’s a scene in the movie that takes place at a lake where a large part of that show is filmed in County Wicklow.

I absolutely adored this movie and would definitely watch it again.

Sláinte!

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 21%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 47%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 4/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 2/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 5/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 5/5

Movie Trailer: