Leap Year

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: January 8, 2010

DVD Release Date: May 4, 2010

Plot 411: A woman travels to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day.

Review: Amy Adams stars as Anna, a Boston native who has been dating her boyfriend for four years. He (Adam Scott) is a successful cardiologist, who always seems to put his work ahead of her. However, when Anna gets her hopes up for a marriage proposal that never really happens, she's determined to take matters into her own hands. Following an Irish tradition of women proposing to men on February 29 on a Leap Year, Anna flies to Dublin with that in mind to meet her boyfriend at his medical conference. Unfortunately, a bit of bad weather forces her to detour and she finds herself on the road with Declan (Matthew Goode) as her guide. They fight like cats and dogs as they make their way from Dingle to Dublin in a mad dash that lasts two entire days. I love Amy Adams but thought she got off to a shaky start in this movie. She's pretty unlikable to be honest. But as the movie progresses, her girl-next-door sweetness shines through. I had a heck of a time trying to understand the Irish accent put on by Goode even when I had the subtitles going. It was partly because of his sarcastic mutterings and partly because of the Irish slangs he used. Still I liked his character because it was such a contrast from perky Anna. What stole the show though was Ireland itself. Wow, everything is so green there! It definitely makes you want to visit even the most rural villages.

Watch It: For another run-of-the-mill rom coms, but at least it's better than Letters To Juliet in terms of great scenery.

Skip It: Because it does feel like such a mass-produced movie when compared to stuff like Once.

Letters To Juliet

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: May 13, 2010 (Australia) / May 14, 2010 (USA)

DVD Release Date: TBD

Plot 411: On a pre-wedding trip to Italy, Sophie discovers a 50-year-old letter to Juliet and replies to the author.

Review: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her fiance Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) take a vacation to Verona in place of a formal honeymoon because of Victor's upcoming restaurant opening. However, once in Italy, Victor spends most of his time meeting with vendors rather than with Sophie. While sightseeing on her own Sophie finds the famous home of Juliet Capulet, which has turned into a shrine for women who are having problems in love. While writing her own letter, Sophie witnesses a woman pulling off all the letters. She follows the woman and learns that four women serve as Juliet's secretaries. As she assists them the following day, Sophie uncovers a 50-year-old letter that has gone unanswered. She writes to Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and a few days later is traveling with Claire and her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) to find Claire's Italian lost love. The amazing Italian countryside of Sienna was a picture-perfect sight and its sun-drenched vineyards were amazing. The idea of a woman returning to the place of her youth to find and reconnect with a 50-year-old lost love is indeniably romantic. Seyfried is cute (her enormous blue eyes didn't seem as enormously distracting as they were in other films) and likable as Sophie (yes, it's the same character name she had in Mamma Mia!), but somehow this movie didn't live up to all the hype. Bernal and Egan were somewhat unlikeable in their own ways. While I thought the Claire storyline was moving, the Sophie/Victor/Charlie plotline seemed forced. The Charlie character's arc is definitely more like a spike with no warning or any indication of his motive for change. Everything was just too predictable, and what's worse is that the trailer reveals the entire movie.

Watch It: If you're a romantic at heart.

Skip It: If you've already watched the trailer. There's no need to spend your $10 after that.