Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Amy Adams as Anna Brady
Matthew Goode as Declan
Adam Scott as Jeremy
John Lithgow as Jack
Noel O’Donovan as Seamus
Tony Rohr as Frank
Pat Laffan as Donal
Alan Devlin as Joe
Ian McElhinney as Priest
Dominique McElligott as Bride
Mark O’Regan as Captain
Maggie McCarthy as Eileen
Peter O’Meara as Ron
Macdara Ó Fatharta as Father Malone
Kaitlin Olson as Libby
Directed by Anand Tucker
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
pocket BLU
social BLU
BD Live
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French and Spanish Languages
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“When Anna’s (Amy Adams) four-year anniversary to her boyfriend passes without an engagement ring, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Inspired by an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on Leap Day, Anna follows Jeremy (Adam Scott) to Dublin to propose to him. But after landing on the wrong side of Ireland, she must enlist the help of the handsome and carefree local Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her across the country. Along the way, they discover that the road to love can take you to very unexpected places.”
“Leap Year” is rated PG for sensuality and language.
Mini-Review:
My wife and I often agree on movies, but “Leap Year” was one movie we couldn’t agree on. Watching it, I was completely unimpressed while she enjoyed it.
First of all, if you’re going to have two romantic stars fight for much of the movie, then fall for each other in the end, it has to be believable. It worked with Han and Leia in “The Empire Strikes Back.” It worked in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” It worked in “Romancing the Stone.” It’s a fine balancing act, but it can be successfully done. But in “Leap Year,” the dislike between Anna and Jeremy is played up so big that when they do fall in love 48 hours later, I found it to be completely unbelievable. Simply cooking together doesn’t make someone fall in love with you after going through 24 hours of hell with them. My wife’s response to this was, “It’s cute. Get over it.” Hmph.
Second, I didn’t think Amy Adams as Anna Brady and Matthew Goode as Jeremy Declan had any chemistry at all. Adams’ performance is a tad wooden compared to some of her other roles. Then Anna spends most of the film desperate to get married and complaining a majority of the time. Goode’s only bit of charm seems to be his accent. There’s nothing really notable about him and nothing about him that made me think Anna would fall for him. The result is I didn’t care if the two of them inevitably got together at the end. My wife’s response to this was, “You’re a grump.” Hmph.
Third, “Leap Year” doesn’t paint a very flattering picture of Ireland. n fact, if I was their tourism bureau I’d try to get people to forget “Leap Year.” The Irish people generally ignore or mock Anna. While walking down the road, a van pulls over, a guy gets out, and steals Anna’s suitcase. The movie shows the people as drunks. The locals describe Dublin as a hellhole. They show fights in bars and other fun stuff. It’s not exactly painted as a place you’d want to visit. My wife’s response to that? “It looks beautiful.” Hmph.
All this leads to my main point – this is a chick flick. It’s made for women who like romantic comedies and don’t care about the details. If that describes you, then this is a movie you’re going to want to check out. If you care about the quality of the film beyond the romance, then I suggest you go watch some other romantic comedy that pulls the whole package together better than “Leap Year”.
There’s only one bonus feature included on the Blu-ray. It’s about 7 minutes of deleted scenes. And surprisingly most of the scenes feature John Lithgow as Anna’s father. It was only when I saw these deleted scenes that I realize just how little he was in the theatrical version of the movie. Other than this, the disc is lacking such basic features as a ‘making of’ documentary, a commentary, or even a gag reel.
