If this winter feels like it’s dragging on longer than others, it may be because of the extra day tacked on to the end of February. Leap years began in 45 B.C.E. when Julius Caesar implemented the Julian calendar, adding one extra day every four years. While that means 2024 has an extra day of infamous Centre County February gray skies, in the movie “Leap Year” there is another significance to the day.
The 2010 romantic comedy features stars like Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, John Lithgow and Adam Scott. In the film, Anna, played by Adams, finds herself on a journey to Ireland to propose to her surgeon boyfriend, played by Scott. The old Irish tradition of women proposing to their partners on Leap Day has many origin stories, but the most commonly believed dates back to the fifth century in Ireland.
During that time, St. Bridget is said to have urged St. Patrick to allow women the right to propose to their partners. Of course, unions were then historically used more for practical reasons than romantic ideals, and because of that, St. Patrick is said to have created a compromise for St. Bridget’s request that allowed women to propose only in a leap year.
In the film, Anna is tired of waiting for her boyfriend to propose, so she takes matters into her own hands and flies to Dublin to meet her boyfriend, who is there for a conference. However, after a storm redirects her flight to Cardiff, she finds herself traversing the Irish Sea by boat to Cork. In Cork, she finds herself wet and tired and, while searching for a place to stay the night, she meets Declan, a grumpy inn and bar owner.
With just a few days to get to Dublin to meet up with her boyfriend for Leap Day, Anna convinces Declan to drive her in exchange for 500 euros, which he desperately needs to keep his pub from going into foreclosure. The mismatched duo, each of whom is quick to share their dislike of the other, hits the road together on a road trip filled with unexpected turns through the Irish countryside.
Like in any good romantic comedy, the audience gets to watch the main characters slowly go from loathing each other to falling in love. While the film covers themes like love and destiny, it also is about self-discovery, as the main characters learn what their true priorities are and accept that life does not always follow the set timeline or expectations they have for it.
While the film was met with mixed reviews, it still has a loyal following of viewers who watch it each Leap Day. Whether you are happily married or looking for love, dreaming of an international adventure or content with staying home curled up on your couch, Leap Year is a fun film to get lost in this Leap Day.
