My new post is a review for the film Leap year...
Anna Bradley is in a loving relationship and is hoping that her boyfriend is going to propose but unfortunately he gives her a set of earrings instead. She is disappointed by this but sees him off on his working weekend to Ireland happily with the knowledge that one day he will propose. It is when she meets her Father that she gets the idea of proposing to him as it is a leap year. He tells her of an old Irish tradition where the woman gets to ask the man to marry him on 29th February in the lead year.
Anna books her ticket for Ireland in the hope of surprising boyfriend Jeremy but unfortunately a big storm makes her plane have to divert to Wales instead. She is determined to make it to Ireland in time to buy a ring and dress to make the proposal and ends up on a fishing boat, the storm gets worse and the boat has to divert to Dingle instead of Dublin so Anna is left in a small village with no means of escape.
She wonders into the local restaurant and pub and asks about a taxi but is not happy when a run in with the owner sees her not being able to leave. Declan is the owner and he is given a price for taking her to Dublin but refuses. Anna is forced to spend the night in Dingle but fortunately Declan changes his mind the following morning and agrees to drive her. This may sound like a simple journey but Declan and Anna do not get on and they have a lot of obstacles to overcome on their journey.
Will Anna ever make it to Dublin to make her proposal to Jeremy or will fate play a hand which will change her life forever?
The trailer which I had seen for this film made it look quite a fun film with a good little story, I am pleased to say I was not at all disappointed. I did enjoy the story but found that it was a little predictable and I had worked out the ending from near enough the start of the film, I did manage to not let this spoil my enjoyment though as it was good the way the story panned out. The acting was a good element of the film and I loved the two lead actors and characters they played.
The role of Anna was played by Amy Adams and she did a great job, I was not overly keen on her at the start of the film as she came across as very serious and ran to a schedule but it was nice to watch her soften and grow as the story moved on, she had some good line sand I liked the strength and determination she had. There was a lovely chemistry between her and the role of Declan and they did have a good few on liners with each other and managed to bounce off each other with perfect comedy timing. The role of Declan was played by Matthew Goode and he was also very good in his role. He was a typical sceptical man who did not believe in love the same way Anna did and their conflicting views gave us some very good laughs. I enjoyed how he was always keeping something back from Anna as this gave him an air of mystery and a little depth. He was so relaxed in his role and I loved how nothing wound him up or annoyed him. We had some good support roles in the film and some of the actors included, Adam Scott, john Lithgow and Noal O’Donovan.
The setting for the film was Ireland and I found the extent of the countryside and views which we got to see were wonderful, we had a lot of the countryside shots and I found these showed the country off in a very good light. The way of life as it was portrayed was not far fetched at all, we had the sleepy villages and the slow paced lifestyle and I found this a nice change from t he fast pace of other films. I think this helped with the comedy of the film as Anna was so out of her comfort zone in these settings. We did get some shots and scenes set back in America and the contrast was so massive, she lived in a big rice modern building with all the modern facilities and this worked well showing and getting us to understand the way she worked and thought.
The music which we had was nice and pleasant, there were no real stand out tracks and I found that the Irish element to it helped with the setting and placement of the film. The music was quite slow at times and I did enjoy it. We did have a few special effects used in the film and they did fit effortlessly into the story. They were not massive effects but more smaller understated ones and for me they were of a high quality and worked well.
There are a few good laughs in the film, I would not go as far as calling this film a comedy but there is definitely a fun feel to the story. We have a few visual gags which involve poo and a car running away but for me it was the banter between Anna and Declan which gave the most laughs. They bounced off each other with their lines exceptionally well and I found it made the film much lighter and enjoyable to watch.
This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 100 minutes and I did find this to be a good length with the story moving at a good steady pace from start to finish. The rate for the film is a PG and I do agree with this. The DVD can be bought for around £7 now and I think this is a reasonable price. It is also currently being shown on Sky Premier for those who have this channel.
I am pleased top be giving this film a good solid 4 stars. Both me and hubby enjoyed it and found the story and acting to be of a high standard. The only thing which let the film down for me was the fact I had worked the ending out right from the very start of the film. Definitely one for those who like a good easy love story which has a good bit of humour included.
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