Leap Year (**)

Leap Year. 97 mins. PG. Directed by Anand Tucker. Written by Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont. Starring Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, and John Lithgow.

Another weekend, another worthless romantic comedy. The genre has taken a beating over the course of the last year, and Leap Year confirms that the trend has continued into 2010. Though it is less insulting to the audience's intellect than other recent rom-coms, it's still painfully predictable and never colors outside the lines. Amy Adams stars as Anna, who impulsively flies to Ireland to propose to her dolt of a boyfriend (Adam Scott) on 2/29, in accordance with Irish tradition. Easier said than done. Beset by travel snafus, and stuck with a rugged local bartender as her ride (Matthew Goode), Anna finds herself questioning which "leap" to make, and which guy to choose. Hmm, I wonder who she chooses. Like most other romantic "comedies," there is very little comedy in Leap Year, which, thankfully, foregoes being crass and obnoxious in favor of a storytelling style that is old-fashioned and modest. Adams and Goode are both likeable performers, but their characters are cliches - hating each other at first, and then liking each other once the ice melts, and then loving each other. Leap Year is not bad per se, but you've seen it all a million times before, so why pay money now? For a movie that strives to live by the maxim, "it's not the destination, but the getting there that's the fun part," Leap Year sure is skimpy on the fun part.

- John