'Leap Year' Movie Review by Lexa

Ah! What a breath of fresh air; a love story told in non-other than one hour and forty minutes. In that time we managed to discover adventure with Anna and Declan, their ups and downs when trying to capture the perfect moment to propose to her fiancee Jeremy. The trouble and time she spent getting to Jeremy would have anyone spinning and confused, especially since through it all, he was the one that ended up proposing as though her trial to get to him and accomplish her goal, meant nothing.

Anna lives an uncertain lifestyle with her boyfriend Jeremy, who just wouldn't crack the question and move their relationship to the next level of commitment. Let's face it, the moment he didn't realize his girlfriend was upset when she received earrings, practically spelt out how Jeremy felt about their relationship. So this disappointment took Anna on a journey, across the unknown, to fulfill a tradition that she herself couldn't imagine was believable.
I guess Anna wanted a reason to gear Jeremy in the right direction. Dublin was the place for dreams and love ironically she wounded up in love with the guy taking to the one she thought she loved.

This story is another love story, but something about the atmosphere and grouping of characters made it unique. I believe I fell for these characters in such a short time. It actually would make you wish that people could fall in love like that. Just take a wild adventure and hook up with the guy of your dreams. It's amazing the chemistry between them. I kept wondering 'what if her money ran out', she kept waving cash in every one's faces "I'll pay you any amount" or "how much would that cost". If the amount of money spent on the trip was calculated, one would wonder if it was worth it. The answer would be an affirmative one, without the trip she would not have met Declan, so really she spent all that money to find her true love.

It wasn't really a sappy love story. I enjoyed the adventure and the occasional exchange of insults exchanged between Declan and Anna, up until the point where they fell believably in love. Declan wasn't even the typical guy you would see in a romance film, or even the guy expected to play the inadvertent lead, but Matthew Goode played the unexpected twist. His onscreen charisma would have you in awe with how much you could love someone so odd at times.

My favorite scene between him and Anna would be the point where he asks her why she was going on her trip, risking everything to get to Dublin. He began laughing the moment Anna revealed the 'tradition' even as he would be the one most familiar to it and he still found it funny, and that Anna was making a fool out of herself believing in it. If Declan didn't have enough faith in his own tradition, what made Anna have so much faith in it. Every time she told Jeremy she loved him, it was just that; words. It came to the point where their relationship was based on strict planning, but not love. Which is why I admired Declan's modesty and honesty towards her ridiculous belief.

In fact, the most we saw from Jeremy was a smile (hardly), his wealth (the earrings) and his appreciation of luxury; nothing was real about him. Yet here we meet Declan on a spontaneous sidelined journey,had the flight gone straight to Dublin, Declan would be out of the picture and Anna would have been unhappy in the end. Declan is rough around the edges, imperfect, calming, a brilliant chef, non traditional and a gentleman. We actually learnt more about Declan than we did with Jeremy.

Imagine being placed in the same situation, regarding that scene where Anna reaches Dublin and she and Declan are saying their goodbye's and thank yous. What would be your reaction? Would you feel obligated to your boyfriend, because you did travel through torture to get to him, only to find yourself in love with someone else? Or would you have turned down the proposal and ran off with Declan? Had Anna done the latter, she would not have discovered Jeremy's true feelings towards her, Anna would have stormed out of the room and thrown him the engagement ring the moment she discovered Jeremy saw marriage as a package. I guess she had to be certain, the moment the alarm was sounded, what would be the first thing Jeremy thinks of, and Anna got her answer. It was the same answer that led her back to Declan; an unexpected marriage.

I have a few question for the both of them, how did they know when it was true love? We have found the same problems analyzing that questions and it always seems so easily accomplished on screen. It is as though Anna and Declan are now living out the dream any of us wish we could have, at least something like it. If you knew Mr or Mrs right was a trip to Declan away, would you take it? The fact is that Anna didn't know Declan was it for her and she wasn''t taking the trip for him. Which leaves me to believe that you could be chasing after something or someone when the person of your dreams is right in your passenger seat, just haven't made it official.

We still admire Declan's odd friends and their own hilarious moments which brought that uplift. I humble admired the quotation from the newly wed scene.

Newly wed Wife: "May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you."

If we ever happen to find that true love, imagine being uttered those words on your wedding day, what a play on words. It leaves you with room for thought, but I still don't buy that love could be accomplished so easily. That it takes that one moment for you to realize that they are the one. It is actually frustrating at times and can often put anyone in an institute if they really thought about what made two people click. This one just gave the cherry on top needed to create something lasting of the fairytale happily ever after and a kiss that just would take your breath away.

Lexa

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Four and a half Stars

Grade A-
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