Wednesday, March 9, 2011

LEAP YEAR

Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott


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


HBO



Much to her chagrin, Anna (Amy Adams) doesn't get a much expected marriage proposal from Jeremy (Adam Scott) on the eve of his trip to Ireland to attend a medical conference. She is encouraged to follow an Irish tradition that unfolds on February 29. On that date, a woman can propose to her boyfriend known as the leap year proposals. She packs her bags and heads to Ireland to achieve her plan.

Unfortunately, bad weather intervenes and she is forced to land in Wales and must find a way to make it to Dublin. Stuck in a bleak Scottish town, she hires an inn owner, Declan (Matthew Goode) to drive her to the Irish capital. The movie focuses on their journey which is fraught with numerous obstacles.

Amy Adams is a delight to watch as she is determined to make it to Dublin. Her encounters with unfriendly locals, missed trains and the Irish countryside doesn't deter her plan. She had a convincing rapport with Matthew Goode but half of the time I admit I couldn't understand his accent. I did admire the setting which consisted of ruins of castles and vast mountains surrounded by the ocean. Never mind that it was morosely bleak due to the incessant rains.

The story itself has been done many times in other films like "French Kiss" so the ending was predictable. But I was too sick to watch anything else on the telly. I'm just surprised I didn't doze off while viewing it.

"May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you."

The above lovely yet somehow cheesy quote was (for me) the best part of the film. But strangely enough it wasn't uttered by any of the main characters.

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