15 minutes into Leap Year, I leaned over to my wife and asked “why do we like Amy Adams?” Her answer was “she has a great nose.” I thought “yeah, that just about sums it up.” Great nose, great hair, great face – the appeal of Amy Adams in a nutshell. Sure her acting can be downright cartoonish at times, but who really cares. It’s not like she a bad actress – far from it. She is capable of overcoming her cartoonishness (Sunshine Cleaning) even if she doesn’t in this particular film, and she disappears into roles better than Meryl Streep or Julia Roberts, for example.

Leap Year is not nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. It’s WAY better than Did You Hear About the Morgans! It’s way better than The Ugly Truth or It’s Complicated. The critics hated it because it’s about finding love and rejecting material wealth for a more meaningful life. The comedy in the film is a bit labored, but the more serious stuff is done reasonably well. Amy Adams has never looked more beautiful in her life, and she and her co-star Matthew Goode have pretty good chemistry. Plus, the cinematography of Ireland is stunning, and I don’t mean this as an afterthought. The majesty of the setting blends beautifully in the context of the story with the awakening of Amy Adams’ character. She is endlessly confronted with this quite, subtle, eternal beauty – both in the terrain and in her accidental traveling companion. It’s not the smoothest film in the world, but it does work. And the ending is quite satisfying.

I may have been a bit kind to this film in the review. It’s far from a great film, to be sure, and I doubt I will ever feel the need to see it again. But if you like Amy Adams and silly romantic comedies with a heart, put it on your Netflix cue!