Let me just say that Matthew Goode in a Fisherman's Sweater, even with a scruffy beard, is no hardship to watch for an hour and a half. I'm a sucker for a romantic comedy, and went out to see Leap Year to cheer myself up one night recently. It's a decent enough Rom Com, even if it didn't have all the sparkle and cleverness I might have liked. Really, after the excellence and newness of the writing in (500) Days of Summer, the standard formulaic romantic comedies come off a bit creaky.
You've seen the many commercials, so you know the set up. Amy Adams sets off to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend of four years on Leap Year Day, a long Irish tradition. Her plane is forced to land nowhere near Dublin due to a storm, and she hires Declan, played by Matthew Goode, to drive her across scenic Ireland to rejoin her fiance to be. Madcap adventures ensue, and shock upon shock, she ends up with dishy Declan in the end.
I liked the movie well enough, and it's difficult to say if my sour mood going in shifted my perspective on the movie. The one great kiss between Goode and Adams, when of course they are forced to pretend to be married to stay the night at the only B&B around for miles, was pretty darn hot.
But that was about it, not much sparks flying otherwise. Amy Adams is beginning to wear on me a bit, too. I adored her in Enchanted, where her perkiness was perfect. After her turn in Julie & Julia, meh, not so much anymore.
Matthew Goode I have been praying would be in a romantic movie since way back when I first discovered him in Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore. Yes, I actually own that DVD just because I fell in love with him in this scene, and it's more the talking than the kissing.
Please, Gods of Moviedom, get Matthew Goode a better romantic script, soon! I haven't seen him in A Single Man yet, but although he looks dreamy in the trailer, that's not exactly what I have in mind. Oh, I don't know, how about something crazy like chemistry with his co-star and a love scene, not a chaste kiss scene? What about sharing a bed with a girl not just because he's forced to pretend to be married? I know, I ask for the moon and the stars...
Leap Year I have to give only two and a half stars. See it at a matinee with your gal pals, or just wait to rent. Besides gorgeous Matthew, the Irish countryside scenery is pretty nice to look at, too. Watch the trailer here.
