Irish Romancing in "Leap Year"

Despite the script's obvious shortcomings, Anand Tucker's "Leap Year" boasts of very charismatic leads: Amy Adams and the scrumptuous Matthew Goode.

Capsule

Anna (Amy Adams) has been waiting for his boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) to propose, but the New York cardiologist is dodging her feelers. So Anna decides to take matters into her own hand - by proposing to him on February 29th, following an Irish tradition on girls proposing to their "fella" on this day.

However, Jeremy is at a conference in far Dublin (Ireland), so against the elements, Anna flies to Cardiff (Wales) then braves the tempestuous seas and lands in Cork where she enlists the help of the cheeky barman Declan (Matthew Goode) to help her get to Dublin on the 29th - all for 675 euros!

But the road to romance is an arduous path! And what with baritone-voiced Declan ruffling her feathers all the way through!

Amy Adams inhabits Anna with spitfire spunk while the dashing and roguish Matthew Goode matches her verve. Like most rom-coms, "Leap Year" is filled with trite situations and illogical twists (Anna and Declan's characters repel each other, but instead of avoiding each other, they stick together like glue. Moreover, you'd think it was easier flying to Antartica than getting from Cork to Dublin).

Some lines are taken straight out of a Harlequin Romance novel: "You act like a brute, but you have a sensitive heart". The intention is all too transparent. Let's get the girls swooning. For the most part, they succeed. Thanks mostly to the winning chemistry of its leads. This is after all Amy Adams who, to us, is Meryl Streep's heir apparent! And I've always thought that Goode is the perfect romantic leading man material from "Chasing Liberty" (with Mandy Moore).

Now, can anyone please Fedex Mr. Goode straight to Manila? I'll reimburse - with tips!

Happy Valentine Month, everyone!

Amy Adams takes a romcom!

Matthew calls the shots!

Is it hot in here or what?

"When it comes to acting, it is very limiting to be English," Matthew quips. "It was 'Bring on the posh!' All the parts I was being offered involved my accent or someone with money and title." Matthew has a classy presence. I saw him in a period piece, "Brideshead Revisited".He was also in "Watchmen" as Ozymandias, and he starred in Woody Allen's tennis drama "Match Point". His was also in Tom Ford's Oscar-worthy "A Single Man" with Colin Firth, one of my favorite films. He also appeared in "Cemetery Junction" last year and will be seen as a chef in Bondi Beach in "Burning Man".