Ready for a Leap?

I having a horrible time with this 300 word limit for my column, especially when I really enjoy a movie. So, after slicing the article in half, here is the original “Leap Year” review in case anyone would like more of my thoughts. I’ve linked the printed article in the second paragraph so you can check out the opostition.

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      When I was a kid, I used to give “movie kisses.” I’d grab my family by both cheeks, plant one on the lips and make that silly muah noise. I guess even then I realized a kiss was something special.
     And as most romantic comedies would agree, “Leap Year” is no exception in the kissing department, especially when it offers advice to “always kiss like it’s the first time and the last time.”
     Directed by Anand Tucker, “Leap Year” is the story of Anna’s (Amy Adams) journey to fulfill the old Irish myth that women can propose to their boyfriends on Leap Day.
     After four years together, Anna’s perfect boyfriend Jeremy (played by Adam Scott) still hasn’t popped the question, so she, a perfectionist and planner, decides to take matters into her own hands as he heads off to Dublin for a work conference.
     From the very beginning, I knew it wasn’t going to work out between Anna and Jeremy. Their blank faces, emotionless body language and the fact that they never shared a kiss portrayed the truth.
     Besides, “Leap Year” is a romantic comedy after all, which means the appearance of the tall, dark and handsome other guy who is meant to overshadow the initial love interest.
     Declan, the scruffy, emotionless, barkeep played by Matthew Goode, hooked me with his Irish accent. He entered the picture as Anna’s taxi service from Dingle to Dublin, and right away they had the apparent opposition to each other.
     It took about forty-five minutes for the movie to finally get going, and I honestly wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it or not, even with my devotion to romcoms. Anna’s control-freak perfectionist nature and lack of appropriate walking footwear annoyed me.
     However, the Irish countryside (even if the scenery filmed was actually the West of Ireland when the movie was set on the East coast) kept me immersed until THE kiss.
     Because it’s always that first kiss, notoriously encouraged by someone who thinks the two strangers are together, when the love story starts.
     I find it impossible for two strangers, who could not be more opposite, to fall in love, especially when one of them has been in another relationship for years….but I’m a hopeful romantic at heart.
     And Anna and Declan did have a really passionate kiss.
     And in real life, a kiss sure tells a lot. This I know.
     Adams and Goode work well together, and by the end, there is a shift in their characters—Anna gives up her perfectionism and planning, while Declan falls into his emotions.
     So even though I have watched this storyline a million times…
     And even though real love takes more than three days….
     And even though the final sunset kiss on the Cliffs of Moher was overly cliché…
     I enjoyed every bit of the formulaic ending.
     I may have even teared up a little bit as I found myself caring about the characters.
     Because in the end, Universal Pictures’ “Leap Year” offers a little bit of something for all of us.
     Like a kiss, it “makes the heart young again and wipes out the years.”