If lazy Hollywood screenwriters can collect paychecks by penning "copy and paste" scripts, then critics should be able to do the same with reviews. Change a few key names and locations, and voilà, your review for My Life in Ruins is now your review for Leap Year. But unlike screenwriters, critics are expected to actually come up with something original and insightful when they sit down to write. Suffering through an uninspired comedy like Leap Year, one starts to wonder whether there's some measure of truth to the common claim that there really are no more original stories.
Engaged American stereotype Anna (Amy Adams) walks into an Irish pub owned by crusty Dave Grohl look-a-like Declan (Matthew Goode). Frustrated that her boyfriend, Jeremy (Adam Scott), hasn't popped the question after four years together, she decides to take matters into her own hands and propose to him on February 29th, the one day that Irish tradition states it's acceptable for a woman to ask a man for his hand in marriage. Jeremy is in Dublin on business, giving her the perfect opportunity to nudge their relationship along. Thanks to bad weather, however, Anna's flight is forced to land on the far side of Ireland. Desperate to get to Dublin on time, she convinces Declan to give her a ride.
If there's a single reader who can't guess what happens along the way, then by all means rush out to the theater, purchase yourself a jumbo bucket of buttered-soaked popcorn, and settle in for a delightful road trip rom-com. If, on the other hand, you're so tired of the familiar formula you could fall asleep halfway through the film and dream up a better ending than the one the filmmakers actually shot, avoid this stale collection of clichés like H1N1. The scenery sure is pretty, but unfortunately that's just about the best thing that can be said about Leap Year. By the time it's all over with, you'll secretly be hoping that Anna takes a high dive off one of those gorgeous seaside cliffs. At least then you'd be able to say there was one scene in this picturesque dud that wasn't completely predictable.