Maybe it is not the most believable story, but we want to believe it. It is very romantic, particularly the premise of the love story, that two people can meet and fall in love very quickly, in spite of what they had planned for themselves, then take that leap and commit to a lifetime together because they suddenly "KNOW" it is right. Somehow, being set in Ireland, it seems all the more believable. I get the feeling that the Irish make passionate choices and stand by them for a lifetime.
Anna, Amy Adams, has been dating her cardiologist boyfriend, Adam Scott, for four years and is buying an apartment with him, so, when he is seen leaving a jewelry store, she assumes he is going to propose to her at their special dinner the night before he leaves for a convention in Dublin. To her dismay, he has only bought her diamond earrings. So, her father suggests she could go to Ireland and take advantage of an old Irish tradition of the woman proposing to the man on the 29th of February, Leap Day of a Leap year.
She decides to do just that. Although, Leap Day is a few days away, she encounters heavy storms and her best efforts to get to Dublin leave her stranded at a small pub/restaurant/inn, still a ways from Dublin. The owner, Declan (Matthew Goode), is in a financial pinch and decides he will drive her to Dublin for money to pay off his restaurant debt. They are at each other's throats from the beginning and as they leave for Dublin, one of the pub regulars remarks to another regular that they will kill each other.
Of course, they have many mishaps and delays but, have to cooperate with each other some of the time, getting to know each other a little better in the process. They are forced to stay in a bed and breakfast and pretend to be married as the owners are very definite about what is right and readily show they are still mad about each other after 44 years of marriage. Anna and Declan try to ignore a growing attraction to each other, but, it is getting pretty obvious by the time they get her to Dublin and her waiting boyfriend. Her boyfriend proposes to her almost as soon as he sees her and Declan watches a moment, then turns and leaves.
She accepts her boyfriend's proposal and at a house party in their new apartment learns that he proposed because the apartment board had called him in Ireland and hinted that they preferred to sell to a married couple. He said to a shocked Anna and two of their friends, "why the hell not!" Declan had asked her once what was the one thing she would grab if her home was burning. Suddenly Anna seems to know that she is not really that important to Jeremy, her fiance. She sees the fire alarm and pulls it, watching to see what he considers most important to grab in that 60 seconds before getting out of a burning apartment. He is grabbing his laptop, remote controls and business stuff. He calls to her to get something for him, but she is gone. She is on her way to Ireland.
In front of a full restaurant, she proposes to Declan that they agree to make no plans and see where this thing is going. He walks away, she assumes, in rejection of her, but as she ends up at the cliffs, staring at the sea, he comes up behind her saying he had to get something. He says he rejects her proposal to not make plans, because he wants to make plans with her, then he asks her to marry him as he holds out his mother's ring, the one thing he said he would get in his 60 seconds if his home was on fire. She accepts, of course.
What is great about this movie, is Amy Adams ability to portray great emotion, in spite of a contrived script, and Matthew Goode's ability to portray with his expressions, alone, that he is a man of deep convictions who, once he commits to something, will stand by that commitment all his life. Amy Adams is always worth watching no matter how silly the movie is. She can tell a beautiful story without saying a word.
We are so used to being able to choose what we want from one moment to the next, that, we tend to have a difficult time making those kinds of commitments. That is what I love about this movie. You can actually believe that they are able to make such a deep and lasting commitment and you wish you could experience that kind of commitment in your life. (I have run from commitment all my life! My partner and I have been living together thirteen years!)
I have been working on an Irish-American family tree for an Irish man and woman, Mary and Patrick Hogan, who came to America, met, married in Michigan, moved to Kansas, raised a large family, sticking it out through many hard years in Kansas and living into their 80's. I wonder if they were madly in love and chose a life together, never once re-thinking that decision. I suspect they did. I bought a box of stuff at an auction many years ago, in Central Kansas and found an interesting wooden cylinder with a hidden, hollow area inside. It has some carved decoration on it and the ends look solid, but, one of them comes off when you turn it. Inside were Hogan family records of births, deaths and the actual marriage record made by the pastor who married them in about 1863 in Michigan. I was so charmed by this family history that I have tried ever since to find relatives who would treasure it as I am sure the original family treasured it. Maybe Patrick made it himself. This movie makes me wonder if it is an Irish thing, to commit so fully. Or, is it a thing of the past, when life was short and difficult and people didn't have the luxury of a lot of choices and had to be more decisive? Much as I have always feared being trapped in a bad relationship, I envy that kind of commitment.
I watched the movie three times and saw new things every time. You have to pay attention and listen closely for those little comments that Declan makes under his breath. Many of the little things you might have missed, tell the story of the growing feeling between them. And, I have been craving a "Hang Sandwich" all day!
Anna, Amy Adams, has been dating her cardiologist boyfriend, Adam Scott, for four years and is buying an apartment with him, so, when he is seen leaving a jewelry store, she assumes he is going to propose to her at their special dinner the night before he leaves for a convention in Dublin. To her dismay, he has only bought her diamond earrings. So, her father suggests she could go to Ireland and take advantage of an old Irish tradition of the woman proposing to the man on the 29th of February, Leap Day of a Leap year.
She decides to do just that. Although, Leap Day is a few days away, she encounters heavy storms and her best efforts to get to Dublin leave her stranded at a small pub/restaurant/inn, still a ways from Dublin. The owner, Declan (Matthew Goode), is in a financial pinch and decides he will drive her to Dublin for money to pay off his restaurant debt. They are at each other's throats from the beginning and as they leave for Dublin, one of the pub regulars remarks to another regular that they will kill each other.
Of course, they have many mishaps and delays but, have to cooperate with each other some of the time, getting to know each other a little better in the process. They are forced to stay in a bed and breakfast and pretend to be married as the owners are very definite about what is right and readily show they are still mad about each other after 44 years of marriage. Anna and Declan try to ignore a growing attraction to each other, but, it is getting pretty obvious by the time they get her to Dublin and her waiting boyfriend. Her boyfriend proposes to her almost as soon as he sees her and Declan watches a moment, then turns and leaves.
She accepts her boyfriend's proposal and at a house party in their new apartment learns that he proposed because the apartment board had called him in Ireland and hinted that they preferred to sell to a married couple. He said to a shocked Anna and two of their friends, "why the hell not!" Declan had asked her once what was the one thing she would grab if her home was burning. Suddenly Anna seems to know that she is not really that important to Jeremy, her fiance. She sees the fire alarm and pulls it, watching to see what he considers most important to grab in that 60 seconds before getting out of a burning apartment. He is grabbing his laptop, remote controls and business stuff. He calls to her to get something for him, but she is gone. She is on her way to Ireland.
In front of a full restaurant, she proposes to Declan that they agree to make no plans and see where this thing is going. He walks away, she assumes, in rejection of her, but as she ends up at the cliffs, staring at the sea, he comes up behind her saying he had to get something. He says he rejects her proposal to not make plans, because he wants to make plans with her, then he asks her to marry him as he holds out his mother's ring, the one thing he said he would get in his 60 seconds if his home was on fire. She accepts, of course.
What is great about this movie, is Amy Adams ability to portray great emotion, in spite of a contrived script, and Matthew Goode's ability to portray with his expressions, alone, that he is a man of deep convictions who, once he commits to something, will stand by that commitment all his life. Amy Adams is always worth watching no matter how silly the movie is. She can tell a beautiful story without saying a word.
We are so used to being able to choose what we want from one moment to the next, that, we tend to have a difficult time making those kinds of commitments. That is what I love about this movie. You can actually believe that they are able to make such a deep and lasting commitment and you wish you could experience that kind of commitment in your life. (I have run from commitment all my life! My partner and I have been living together thirteen years!)
I have been working on an Irish-American family tree for an Irish man and woman, Mary and Patrick Hogan, who came to America, met, married in Michigan, moved to Kansas, raised a large family, sticking it out through many hard years in Kansas and living into their 80's. I wonder if they were madly in love and chose a life together, never once re-thinking that decision. I suspect they did. I bought a box of stuff at an auction many years ago, in Central Kansas and found an interesting wooden cylinder with a hidden, hollow area inside. It has some carved decoration on it and the ends look solid, but, one of them comes off when you turn it. Inside were Hogan family records of births, deaths and the actual marriage record made by the pastor who married them in about 1863 in Michigan. I was so charmed by this family history that I have tried ever since to find relatives who would treasure it as I am sure the original family treasured it. Maybe Patrick made it himself. This movie makes me wonder if it is an Irish thing, to commit so fully. Or, is it a thing of the past, when life was short and difficult and people didn't have the luxury of a lot of choices and had to be more decisive? Much as I have always feared being trapped in a bad relationship, I envy that kind of commitment.
I watched the movie three times and saw new things every time. You have to pay attention and listen closely for those little comments that Declan makes under his breath. Many of the little things you might have missed, tell the story of the growing feeling between them. And, I have been craving a "Hang Sandwich" all day!
