Romantic comedy takes a dive in ‘Leap’

Fri., Jan. 8, 2010

Connie Ogle Miami Herald

Rich in cliche and brimming with the sort of potent idiocy that can only be found in January-release romantic comedies, “Leap Year” manages to do every possible thing wrong.

It’s riddled with stereotypes and improbabilities and – taking a page from the dreadful Renee Zellweger/Harry Connick Jr. debacle “New in Town” – asks us to believe an unpleasant, materialistic, self-centered yuppie will suddenly transform into a loving, caring individual if only she can spend time with a handsome salt-of-the-earth, blue-collar guy.

Directed by Anand Tucker (“Shopgirl”), “Leap Year” starts out with one of the sillier romantic comedy premises: Prissy American Anna (Amy Adams) is desperate to get married, but her doctor boyfriend (Adam Scott) is more concerned with his upcoming conference in Dublin.

Anna’s ne’er-do-well dad (John Lithgow in a brief appearance) suggests Anna make use of an ancient Irish tradition (apparently so old that nobody has ever heard of it): She should surprise the guy in Dublin on Feb. 29, because on that day women are allowed to ask men to marry them.

Anna heads off to the Emerald Isle, but bad weather thwarts her travel plans, and she ends up in a tiny hamlet where she is forced to pay sexy Irish barman Declan (Matthew Goode, recently seen as Colin Firth’s dead boyfriend in “A Single Man”) to drive her to Dublin. Naturally these two fall in love after a series of mishaps that prove Anna utterly unworthy of having anyone root for her happiness.

In reality, Declan would’ve kicked her out of his car halfway to Dublin, retired to the pub for a few Guinness drafts to push the entire experience out of his mind and decided the priesthood wasn’t a bad way to go.

The worst part of this equation is that the appealing Amy Adams – just seen as the Julie half of “Julie & Julia” – has no excuse for being part of this mess. Why she is a party to such blarney remains a mystery as puzzling as the question of why anybody thought “Leap Year” was a good idea.

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