Leap Year: Jumping Right Into … Predictability

Of course, it’s only the first week of 2012 and I’ve already caught an ear infection. Being stuck home in bed, it’s at least been a good time to catch on some TV and movies. I decided to start with something light, namely Leap Year, a 2010 romantic comedy out of Ireland.

Perfectionist and control freak real estate “stager” Anna (Amy Adams) has been in a relationship with Jeremy (Adam Scott) for four years but he has yet to propose to her. In a wild idea inspired by a family story, she decides to follow Jeremy to his business trip in Dublin, where there is a tradition that women can propose to their men on Leap Day - an opportunity that comes up only once every four years. However, a fierce storm ends up landing her plane outside of Dublin and she must find an alternate way to get to the city. Enter Declan (Matthew Goode), a small village pub owner looking for cash, who offers to drive her from Dingle to Dublin. Adventures and mishaps ensue as their ill-fated journey across Ireland continues despite all obstacles.

Leap Year has the predictable, formulaic plot of any bad romantic comedy. Yes, I was pretty much aware of that back when I first started seeing previews for this movie, but I was hoping that I would be wrong and there would be some surprises along the way – or at least some really funny moments to carry the movie. But I was disappointed. There are certainly funny moments, but they are mostly of the physical gags variety and nothing particularly spectacular to write home about. Furthermore, there is no real attraction between the leads or justifiable reason(s) they go from hating each other to loving each other - at best its that she realizes he can cook and he learns that she’s so controlling because her father is so glib. However, Amy Adams shines as always (and in general, is underrated for her comic skills, in my opinion) despite running around Ireland on foot in pencil skirts and high heels. Speaking of Ireland, the movie does feature some nice scenery but some of it is clearly green screened in to the background.

However, let’s not even get started on unpacking the idea of ‘women can only propose once every four years on a certain day at a specific idyllic spot.’ Anna is a go-getter who likes things planned exactly to her specifications so there’s no reason why she couldn’t propose on any other day of any other year in any other spot. Let’s also not look too deep here and realize that the ending means Anna gives up all – her home, her job, and her personality – to be with the man she loves. What kind of message are we sending to women with that kind of “love” story? Change everything about yourself and then you can finally be happy? Compare this with another Irish romantic comedy, Happy Ever Afters, where the message seems to be ‘find someone as quirky as yourself and you might have shot at happiness,’ which seems like a healthier attitude to me.

All and all, Leap Year is a fairly entertaining movie but ultimately forgettable, perhaps in part due to its underlying messages that are frankly unfriendly to women.

All for a Laugh

For a gray dreary day of not feeling so well, I decided to stay in bed with a purring cat and watch some lighter fare. (I also decided it was good idea to work on my Netflix queue of instant streaming while I still have it – although its initial freezing of my computer when trying to use it doesn’t endear it to me or make me regret my decision to cut back on my Netflix bill by switching to a DVD-only plan after their move to separate – and more expensive – plans for DVD and streaming video.) So I ended up watching some romantic comedies, which aren’t my usual fare for movies, and here are my thoughts on these two movies.

Happy Ever Afters

Freddie and Sophie are getting married for the second time – to each other.

Groomsman: Don't worry, Father. She was late the last time, too.

Priest: Last time?

Freddie: Yeah, this is our second. Second time getting married.

Priest: What, the same girl?

Freddie: Yeah. We had... problems the first time and got divorced, but we're sorted now.

Meanwhile, young single mother Maura has agreed to marry Wilson, who is due to be deported back to Africa otherwise, in exchange for money to keep at bay the repossession of her furniture and eviction from her house.

When the two couples have receptions at the same time in the same small hotel, a madcap comedy of errors ensues. There’s a fair amount of predictability in some of the gags and in some of the movie’s resolution, but overall it was a great dose of humor and I found myself literally laughing aloud at moments. For instance, there was the conversation between Maura and the priest who married her after he finds out that her marriage was one of convenience and the immigration officers are seeking to find out otherwise.

Maura: Go talk to them.

Priest: What? Why me?

Maura: I'm not a good liar.

Priest: And you think I am?

Did I mention this entire conversation was taken place in a janitor’s closet with an unconscious Freddie beside the priest and Maura? Picture it if you will.

As I know her best as the quiet, elegant Anne Elliot in Persuasion, it was surprising to see Sally Hawkins as a saucy klutz with an in-your-face attitude. She was a master at physical comedy as Maura and, on a more serious note, the relationship between Maura and her daughter, Molly, was priceless. In fact, there were a few moments of somberness to the movie, not only between Maura and Molly but also those revolving around Sophie’s bridesmaid Niamh who is contemplating her own choices in life and whether she is happy with her “boring husband” who doesn’t seem to pay much mind to either her or their children.

Without giving too much away, the ending of the movie is somewhat predictable (as is quite often the case in comedies, especially ones with a romantic leaning) but not nearly as cliché or tidy as the typical American romantic comedy. (Happy Ever Afters takes place in and was filmed in Ireland.) Overall, I thought this was a decent comedy and perfect for putting me in a better mood.

You Again

Marni (Kristen Bell) is returning home from her successful PR career for her brother’s wedding. While her brother is getting married in only a few days, somehow Marni has not yet found out her brother’s fiancée is. Turns out that his bride-to-be is Marni’s “arch-nemesis,” mean girl Joanna who tormented Marni all throughout high school. Marni’s mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) tells her to move on and let bygones be bygones but is thrown for a loop herself when Joanna’s beloved aunt Mona (Sigourney Weaver) turns out to be Gail’s former best friend from her high school days. Yeah, it’s a small world after all, according to this movie.

Unlike Happy Ever Afters, You Again was pretty much a miss. The funniest parts were all seen in the trailer and I didn’t really get anything extra out of the hour and forty-five minutes I spent on watching the whole movie. There were so many scenes that were over-the-top ridiculous, including the absurdly competitive dance lesson, the “cat fights” between the two sets of rivals, and the obsessive way Joanna and Gail were still stuck on re-living their high school cheerleading routines, to name a few. Joanna and Marni were both characters that were hard to decide how to feel about them. Joanna would do 180s from being a character you’d feel sympathy for because she’s trying to make right her wrongs to being a character you’d hate because she was just as cold and calculating as her high school days. It didn’t seem fitting for her to be these two completely different characters at the same time; the writers really needed to decide on one or the other and then let her be. Meanwhile Marni seems like the underdog that everyone would normally root for except that her obsessive vindictiveness in desiring to bring Joanna down at any cost was at odds with Joanna’s (albeit not consistent) attempts to move on and be a better person. This is not to say that either character actually gained depth; they were both just not fully realized. It’s been disappointing after watching her play the multi-faceted Veronica Mars to see Kristen Bell re-appear time and again in these B movie as dull, flat characters.

With a star-studded cast like this one, there was potential for so much from the actors in non-lead roles as well but unfortunately this also fell flat. I was excited to Kristin Chenoweth was in the movie, who I loved as Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies, but her character, the exclusive wedding planner Georgia King, was a bit character in only a few scenes. In the end, this was probably for the best because this character was involved in completely over-the-top absurd antics. Betty White, who seems to be showing up everywhere lately, was also relegated to a very minor role as Marni’s Grandma Bunny. Her having such a small role was a particular let-down because she had some of the funniest lines in the movie. Her “I’m also on Facebook and the Twitter.” is probably the best thing that came out of this movie (although you could hear that one on the trailer!).

Overall, the movie isn’t really funny enough (or perhaps not the right kind of funny for me) and it’s too stuck into the woes of high school to feel like a grown-up comedy.