Taking a Leap

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve decided to review a movie set in Ireland. And while my parents have me tap “The Quiet Man” every year while I watch Celtic Thunder, I think I’ll save that for another St. Patrick’s Day. And I just couldn’t wait to review Heritage. Hope that got you in the mood! So, in honor of the Emerald Isle, I present “Leap Year.”

I’d like to apologize to the Irish and those who do not like SPOILERS now.

“Leap Year” tells the story of Anna O’Grady (Amy Adams), who lives in Boston and makes her career staging apartments and houses for sale. That means she makes the apartments look appealing to prospective buyers. She’s been dating Scott, a cardiologist, for four years. One day, her friend tells Anna that she saw Scott coming out of a jewelry store. To the two, that could mean only one thing—a proposal is in Anna’s future! She goes to a local bar to meet her father (John Lithgow) and gets hit on by a patron. She tells the man that she’s about to be engaged and her father celebrates. He says that’s about time or else she’d have to do what her grandmother did. Apparently, Anna’s grandmother proposed to her grandfather on February 29th, when Irish tradition says a woman can and the man can’t refuse. Anna dismisses it as foolish and leaves, saying she has a dinner date with Scott.

At dinner, he gives her the present he bought from the jewelry store—earrings. She, naturally, is disappointed. Scott, though, is going to Ireland. And he’ll be there on February 29th. Because it’s a leap year. How convenient! So Anna decides to be spontaneous and go to Dublin to propose to Scott on February 29th. She spills her guts to a priest sitting next to her on the flight and he probably goes to his happy place, like when he’s in a confessional. Unfortunately, there’s bad weather and the plane experiences turbulence, including the air masks dropping (which no one puts on. Now, I’ve thankfully never had to be on a flight where we needed oxygen but I’d imagine everyone puts those masks on IMMEDIATELY).

Anyway, there’s a storm and Dublin’s airport is closed. Actually it seems all the airports in Ireland is closed as the plane is diverted to Cardiff, Wales. Now, while I would’ve started to stalk the cast and crew of Doctor Who, Anna wants to get into Ireland. But it would seem the entire island is closed. Seriously, Anna can’t get anywhere into Ireland. Or perhaps she is too focused on Dublin and too rude for any other options. So, Anna ends up taking a boat to Dublin. But because of the storm, he can’t land in Cork like planned and sets her ashore in Dingle. Anna bursts into a pub, which also happens to be the only inn in town. She doesn’t endear herself to the locals and manages to blow the town’s one fuse.

In the morning, the pub/inn’s owner Declan (Matthew Goode) is told he needs to pay or else his pub/inn will be foreclosed. So he agrees to taxi Anna from Dingle to Dublin in time to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th. Hijinks ensue. Which include: cows stopping their trek, Declan’s beat up car rolling into a lake, and robbers stealing Anna’s luggage.

They find the luggage and Anna’s still determined to make it to Dublin for February 29th. She decides to take the train, which won’t come for another two hours. She sits on a bench to wait for it but Declan decides to go exploring. After being stared down by a dog, she rushes to join him. Declan brings her to a castle, explaining the story of a woman who was supposed to marry one man but ran off to marry another. Was that an anvil?

Since hijinks are ensuing, Anna and Declan miss the train. The stationmaster takes pity on them and takes him to house—a bed and breakfast. But the stationmaster’s wife is super conservative and won’t accept any couples who aren’t married. So guess who has to pretend to be married! Anna and Declan bond while cooking dinner for everyone. That night, they have to share a kiss to keep up their charade and awkwardly share a bed.

The next morning, Anna is upset to learn that the train won’t run that day as it’s Sunday. She can’t sit still even though the legend doesn’t say anything about having to propose at sunrise on February 29th, so she and Declan start walking. It starts hailing, so they take shelter in a nearby church. Where there’s a wedding going on. The priest asks if they had any reason why the two shouldn’t be wed, so it isn’t a Catholic wedding (we don’t ask that question at our weddings). The two say they don’t and get to stay for the wedding. And the reception! Anna watches a touching moment between the bride and groom but soon her klutziness causes her to snag a bottle of vodka and race to the beach.

There, we learn more about Declan. He explains that the pub was a work of love between two friends of his. And he eventually fell in love with the female one. But before they were to be married, she ran off to Dublin with the other friend, taking his family ring with her. Anna realizes this is why Declan had such an aversion to love and Dublin. They bond and in the morning, wake up in a little town. Declan thinks Anna went to the capital without him as he sees a bus pull out. But Anna’s only gone to fetch them coffee for their ride to Dublin.

They get to Dublin and Anna is reunited with Scott. Before Anna could propose, though, he does. She hesitantly accepts as Declan walks away. We later see him in another pub as a woman comes up to him. Anna returns to Boston, where she learns that the only reason Scott proposed was so that they could snag the apartment of their dreams. This causes her to evaluate her life and decide what she really wants.

Back in Ireland, Declan’s managed to save his pub. And he’s turned it around into one of the best restaurants around. One day, a customer has the audacity to claim his chicken is too dry. He storms into the restaurant to demand the customer stand up and face him like a man, only for it to be Anna. She proposes to him there but he walks away. Upset and rejected, she leaves and ends up on some bluffs. That’s where Declan finds her to inform her he hadn’t rejected it. He had went to get his returned ring so he could give it to her.

Cut to sometime later, the two in wedding attire and living…happily ever after?

As far as your standard rom com fare, this is pretty cute. It’s a bit predictable and formulaic, but most rom com viewers aren’t watching them for Mensa. It’s enjoyable, for the most part.

The problem is elsewhere. All forms of entertainment—books, theater, movies—require the suspension of disbelief. However, there is only so far audiences can stretch their suspension before the movie becomes silly or unbelievable. And while I’m no expert on Irish geography, even I couldn’t accept a few things. For one thing, Anna couldn’t get into Ireland at all due to a storm. Ireland is a large island. I live on an island that’s maybe a third the size of Ireland. A storm very often doesn’t effect the entire island. I highly doubt all of Ireland would be affected by one storm. She couldn’t get into North Ireland? Now, I guess this could be hand-waved by saying that she was so rude the people in the airport just couldn’t be bothered.

Then the whole movie makes no sense if one actually looks at a map of Ireland. The boat Anna charts is supposed to land her at Cork. Because of the storm, he takes her to Dingle, which is not only on the opposite coast as Dublin, but also Cork. To get to Dingle, he’d have to head to open sea and past other ports that he could’ve landed her.

Geography aside, there are the characters. Most reviews I’ve read credit Amy Adams with saving the movie. She does so, by saving Anna. In the hands of a lesser actress or one without Adams’ innate charm, Anna would’ve been completely unlikeable. She’s demanding, pushy and the epitome of the American tourist stereotype. One actually considers Declan a saint for putting up with her. Though honestly, Declan’s no picnic to travel with either. He’s rather rude to Anna and doesn’t seem to care about her plight. He also doesn’t find her actions romantic, but does slowly open up to her. Their tender moments are some of the film’s best.

As for the other characters…they’re just there. Lithgow is wasted as her father only shows up in one scene and just to set up the idea of a woman proposing in Ireland on February 29th. Her best friend only sets up the idea that she was going to be proposed to, leading to the disappointment and the decision to follow him to Ireland. Most of the people in Ireland serve to dispense superstitions. I’d call this a stereotype, but I know a good share of superstitions due in no small part to my not-at-all-superstitious-knock-on-wood Irish Nana. And they are the only comic relief really in this movie.

As for Scott…Well, as a writer and reader, I often offer such constructive criticism when dealing with a love triangle: The worst way to make your couple the one we root for is to not flesh out the opposition. And that’s the problem with Scott. We do not see any sign that Anna and Scott are in love. In fact, I first mistook him as her business partner. There is no reason to root for Anna as she makes her journey nor any conflict about her relationship with Declan. The reason Declan looks so right for Anna is because we never see why Scott is so wrong.

When this came out overseas, the Irish weren’t too pleased with it. I can understand why. They would know why the movie wouldn’t work. The stereotypes employed in the film didn’t help either. And that’s why I apologized to the Irish for making this my St. Patrick’s Day review.

Should you watch this? Well, if you like either romantic comedies or Amy Adams, then yes. If not, well, no.