Reviews

Review: Leap Year

Needs to take a long leap off a short cliff

By BRETT MICHEL | January 13, 2010

1.5 Stars

At the outset of this rom-com from director Anand Tucker (last seen tapping Blake Morrison's book And When Did You Last See Your Father? for on-screen sap) and screenwriting team Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont (the duo behind Made of Honor and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas), Anna (Amy Adams, why?), a Boston-based micro-manager, announces that "it's not about luck, it's about preparation" before falling for handsome stranger Declan (Matthew Goode) while en route to Dublin to propose to long-time boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on Leap Day. What irony!

She should have just cut to the chase and proclaimed, "I know where I'm going!" — since this "original" screenplay has clear origins in the 1945 Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger classic. As a tearful Anna perched on a cliff near the end, I was tempted to shout, "Jump! Jump!", while wishing that Kaplan and Elfont would join her.

Related: Review: Youth In Revolt, Review: Daybreakers, Review: Skin, More

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Review: The White Ribbon
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Review: Sundance Shorts 2009
Welcome to the world of "Sundance Shorts 2009," where the happy endings tend to look more like reprieves from misery.
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Indie comedy has it tough in the marketplace, so though it's no fun to pan the first feature by the Derrick Comedy troupe, neither was it fun to watch Mystery Team .
Review: Legion
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