Leap Year

[lovesitx]

I don't tend to read the reviews, if i do take note of a review its more likely to be one from Heat magazine than The Times. If the advert looks good, i'll go watch it and make my own decision, i've seen plenty of films that have been slated but i've really enjoyed.

This looks like a bit of fun, not every film you watch has to be taken seriously.

[Ms Thrifty]

Absolutely. It's a bit like eating chocolate or crisps or something - a guilty pleasure, with the emphasis on pleasure.

[SimonV]

not every film you watch has to be taken seriously

I agree

[Beate]

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/films/leap- ... ewsletters

The ViewLondon Review

Review by Matthew Turner
24/02/2010
Opens Friday 26 February 2010

Two out of Five stars
Running time: 100 mins

Disappointing, cliche-ridden, painfully unfunny romcom with a lazy script, a lack of chemistry between the two leads and an atrocious performance from Matthew Goode.

What's it all about?
Directed by Anand Tucker, Leap Year stars Amy Adams as Anna, a professional room-dresser charged with making empty properties attractive to prospective buyers. Anna's seemingly perfect heart-surgeon boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) still hasn't proposed after several years. When she learns about the tradition of women proposing to men on Valentine's Day in leap year, Anna hops on a plane and heads for Dublin, hoping to surprise Jeremy at his conference and propose to him.

However, Anna's plans quickly go horribly wrong and she ends up miles away from Dublin with only scruffy Irishman Declan (Matthew Goode) on hand to help her. And if you can't see where this is going, then you've clearly never seen a romcom before.

The Good
Amy Adams is literally the only good thing about Leap Year – her performance alone rescues the film from one star ignominy and is, frankly, much better than the film deserves. Similarly, there's only one really interesting scene, where she accidentally trashes a room but remains strangely calm about it instead of resorting to the usual comedy fretting.

The Bad
Matthew Goode (who's usually pretty reliable) gives an atrocious performance as Declan, mumbling most of his lines, mangling the Irish accent and making it look like he's hoping if he hides behind the dodgy facial hair and a bad accent, no-one will realise it's him. Meanwhile, Scott does nothing of interest with the obligatory Unsatisfactory Boyfriend role and the rest of the cast is made up Irish stereotypes that are so appalling that it's actually embarrassing to watch them.

Unfortunately, the film's problems don't stop there – it's painfully unfunny throughout and, one single kissing scene aside, there's no chemistry at all between Adams and Goode. On top of that, the hideously cliched, utterly predictable script also completely bungles the supposedly romantic finale, to the point where you feel Anna would actually be better off on her own.

Worth seeing?
In short, despite the best efforts of Amy Adams, this is extremely poor, even by the already low standards of generic Hollywood romcoms. One to avoid.

[Beate]

Had to laugh at this one from today’s Metro, Larushka Ivan-Zadeh clearly is on form today!

Romcom is a genre full to the bonnet with dismal stinkers but this squirm-inducing specimen takes things to new lows. Swanky Bostonian Anna (Amy Adams – what did she do to deserve this?), miffed that her fancy boyfriend hasn’t popped the question, jets off to Ireland to propose to him on Leap Day. Travel calamities (if not “hilarity”) ensue and Anna finds herself escorted around the Emerald Isle by grumpy barman Declan (Matthew Goode, sporting a dodgy accent). It’s astonishing that adults wrote this script. Using every Oirish cliché going, from “obegorrah” dialogue to the jaunty penny whistle score, it’s proof Americans view the rest of the world as a giant theme park. Here “authenticity” equals country bumpkins, ruined castles and cows wandering the streets. When Declan’s secret heartbreak is alluded to, it comes as a relief that his girlfriend wasn’t blown up by the IRA, drowned in a vat of Guinness or crushed by a giant four-leaf clover. Definitely one to avoid, and Irish viewers will likely combust with righteous indignation.

One star

[elski]

Absolutely. It's a bit like eating chocolate or crisps or something - a guilty pleasure, with the emphasis on pleasure.

I know and no matter all these bad reviews for it I still want to see it.

[Beate]

LOL, well here is another 1 star review:

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/rev ... FID=136079

Plot
Adams will play a woman who plans to travel to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on that date, because according to the film it’s an Irish tradition (which, strictly speaking, it isn’t). Anyway, her trip is derailed by weather and she’s forced to undergo a cross-country trek, accompanied by a surly Irish innkeeper, in order to make the proposal in time.

Review
Amy Adams can brighten up most rom-coms, but she’s got her work cut out here. She’s Anna, a career woman travelling to Ireland to propose to American boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on February 29, according to leap year tradition.

Grounded flights force her to hire grumpy Declan (Matthew Goode) to drive her to Dublin. En route, an attraction forms. Two scenes contain sexual tension; the rest is bad bluescreen work, dodgy Oirish accents and jokes as lame as Adams falling over in her heels.

It’s hard to believe this comes from Anand Tucker, director of Hilary And Jackie. Even die-hard rom-com fans will feel as if they’ve travelled back in time to one of 1980’s more clichéd offerings.

Verdict
Rubbish. Irish eyes will be hard pressed to grimace, let alone smile.

Reviewer: Anna Smith

[alythonian]

Well, I think 1 star is a bit rough on it.

Yes, it's pretty (well, really) excrutiatingly bad in bits, but then it redeems itself for 5 minutes and then plunges back again.

The only joke is the one about the suitcase and I'll not repeat it as that would spoil the best line in the film :-)

It's harmless and not an unpleasant way to spend 2 hours and it's better than being outside in the cold or the rain. Some of the Oirish accents and the script are a tad cringeworthy.

I have seen worse rom-coms.

3/10 from me.

[sarahly92]

Most people I know who've seen it do complain that it's poor, and it's a shame Amy Adams went from Enchanted to this.
If I wasn't a female 17 year old who has a soft spot for all thing cringey, I would've hated it.
Seeing as I AM a female 17 year old who likes a bit of Oirish accents after PS I Love You, it was enjoyable.

Watchable, something to see on dvd with a few girly friends, popcorn and slumber night kinda thing.
Wouldn't recommend watching it at the cinema personally.

Its exactly what you expect it to be, and sometimes that's a good thing. :)