It's Just Movies

— by SEAN GERSKI —

I know that romantic comedies are typically filled with cliché after cliché. In fact, I think a certain amount of the audience wants to see those clichés in a romantic comedy. Heck, at this point, some of them are almost ingredients in the recipe.

Of course, you have the “meet cute.” And you don’t want to forget the misunderstanding in the second act that pulls them apart. Oh, and if you can get most of the cast to sing a song together, dance around the kitchen in a spontaneous (but highly choreographed) routine as a family, or attend a ridiculously-budgeted school play, you have fulfilled your requirements as well.

However, the worst one in my book is when the two leads don’t know that they have feelings for each other until they are forced to kiss each other for some contrived reason. I just hate it. It’s lazy screenwriting at its worst.

In this trailer for “Leap Year” — not just the movie, but the trailer — you will see many instances of the romantic comedy cliché (including the one I just mentioned). In fact, you will basically see the whole movie edited down to two and a half minutes. The only thing missing is the part where Amy Adams chooses Matthew Goode over her boyfriend (I haven’t seen the movie, but I have seen other movies, so …).

Now, maybe this will be a good movie. The stars are extremely likeable and Ireland is a fantastic location for any movie, and even more so for a comedy. Due to those factors, I am sure I will end up seeing this movie at some point in my life, but it will likely be a while, since I feel like I just watched it.

“Leap Year” will hop into theaters on Jan. 8.

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