Sending the favourite redhead of the moment on a wacky rom-com odyssey across Ireland to succumb to the charms of a local lad and his irresistible accent sounds like a great movie, but unfortunately
Leap Year fails as both a rom-com and a travel movie.
Boston native Anna (Amy Adams) is every obsessive and prim leading lady every written, but with red hair. She desperately wants her doctor boyfriend to propose, but he flies to
Dublin for a conference instead. Conveniently, it's nearly February 29th and Anna's drunken father reminds her that it's apparently 'permissible' for women to propose on that date.
So Anna jets off to
Ireland, but doesn't quite make it to Dublin and washes up on shore in Dingle, where she meets pretty but surly bar owner Declan (Matthew Goode). She hires him to take her to Dublin and hilarity ensues. Guess who she marries?
Aside from the predictable plot, Leap Year plays fast and loose with Irish geography. Many of the views depicted as Dingle were actually shot in Inishmore, Dublin doubles for Boston, and the geographical logic of taking a boat from Wales to Dingle boggles the mind a bit.
Oh, and the beautiful castle ruins pictured above? With the romantic story? Mostly CGI. It's actually the Rock of Dunamase and look like this:
Verdict: Skip it
