Leap Year

Seen at: Cinema Saver 6, Feb. 16 at 3:15pm

Here is a plot that is right out of the 1930s. A little-too-stuck-on-herself modern American young woman washes ashore (literally) in Ireland, where she meets the love of her life in the form of a rough-hewn but kind and honorable towering Irish leading man. He tames her, and she helps elevate him out of the prison of his own past. They start a new life together, and live happily ever after.

In this sense, Leap Year is another movie that simply treads water, at least in the narrative sense. Yet it was one of my favorite movies I've seen recently. Why?

First of, it executed this 1930s plot flawlessly, exactly the way you should do it, while following the old narrative rules, while mixing contemporary culture and attitudes about men and women, and a strong subplot that was very Postmodern (as a mans of comparison to the main plot, which was very classical). This made for a light, fun, and enjoyable little romantic comedy.

What made it special, then? Certainly it was some plain old directorial artistry, and awesome camera work from the DP (including some impressive second unit work of the cliffs of Moher). But really the reason it was so enjoyable was because all this camerawork was focused on a particular person---the Promised One, who has arrived.

As I'm watching her on screen in this movie, at one point I'm thinking, this could be Ginger Rogers, the way she tilts her face and the way her hair lights up on camera with a way that warms her eyes.

But it's not Ginger Rogers. It's the actress of today, who has arrived in full to save Hollywood movies, at this critical moment in history when all seems lost, by being able to embody at once in turn all the great leading actresses of the 1930s and 1940s.

It's as if everything that seemed dead is still alive, in her---or at least a big chunk of it. How did Amy Adams pull this off? Who knows? It is absolute genius at work.

We saw her dance just a little in Enchanted. How about a biopic of Ginger one day? Can she sing?