Leap Year

With her gorgeous red hair and delicate facial features, Amy Adams dances brilliantly on a spiraling comic tightrope. Adams's class-conscious Anna has her heart set on marrying her crass-but-wealthy heart-surgeon boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott). But instead of popping the big question over dinner, Jeremy gives Anna a pair of earrings before abandoning their meal for Dublin on an emergency call. Anna discovers an old Irish tradition wherein women propose to their men on leap year. With February 29th coming up fast, romantic Anna attempts to fly to Dublin only to get stranded on the wrong side of the craggy island with heavy rains coming down. Anna seeks shelter at a pub/hotel run by the story's inevitable husband-foil, Declan (Matthew Goode). After a night of destroying her hotel room, and the electricity to the town, Anna employs the none-too-pleased Declan to taxi her to Dublin in compact car that suffers under Anna's habitual knack for destruction. Amy Adams's hilarious physical comedy hits you in the funny bone as her smile melts your heart. Matthew Goode underplays Declan with just the right amount of willful contempt for some of Anna's less than attractive character traits. Goode and Adams share a natural chemistry together that's imbued with a well-constructed script by Deborah Kaplan, Simon Beaufoy, and Harry Elfont. At least one subplot could have been tossed out, but "Leap Year" is a terribly sweet romantic comedy that's romantically composed against the Ireland's magnificent splendor. So much so that you might even shed a tear over its beauty.

Rated PG. 95 mins. (B+) (Four Stars)