Leap Year: the central character on this romantic comedy by Anand Tucker start out very abrasive, unpleasant; they expectedly mellow as the film progresses and are a very attractive couple, but it’s hard at first to care too deeply about what happens. It doesn’t help that the story is not fully convincing, but by the other hand it helps a lot that the scenery is so wonderful (and rarely used, to boot). The locations in Ireland are really picturesque, quaint. It’s also well-captured by director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel (who, however, lays a bit too heavily on some of the night scenes). Amy Adams is very charming and effective, giving her performance more complexity than the role calls for; Matthew Goode looks the part, and manages it well enough. The supporting cast is interesting, even if they play broad, clichéd Irish archetypes. Good selection of songs.
