In a fine example of striking while the iron is hot, Watchmen star Matthew Goode has signed on to star in Anand Tucker’s forthcoming rom-com, Leap Year, opposite Amy Adams. The British actor, who plays the pinnacle of human perfection, Ozymandias, in the forthcoming Zack Snyder movie, will go all Oirish, so he will, for his role as a cynical innkeeper who is reluctantly enlisted by Adams as she embarks on a cross-country trip across the Emerald Isle in an attempt to propose to her boyfriend on February 29, as per the ancient Irish tradition. We don’t know about you, and of course we haven’t read the script, which is currently being reworked by Slumdog Millionaire scribe Simon Beaufoy, but we have a feeling that Goode and Adams will hate each other at first, before gradually warming to each other and then – gasp! – falling in love. We even suspect that her boyfriend may turn out to be a cad. Still, regular readers will know that we’ve been massively dismissive of this project since day one, mainly because of the hackneyed concept and the fact that the initial script was written by Harry Elfont and Deb Kaplan, the duo who inflicted Made Of Honour upon an unsuspecting world. However, we’re slowly coming around. First, Adams came on board – and so far her track record is pretty darned impressive. Then Anand Tucker signed on to direct – and, while his movies to date, including Shopgirl, aren’t perfect, he should guarantee an elevation of the material. Then Beaufoy came on, and now Goode, a fine actor and a riotous interviewee who should shine as a romantic lead. Let’s hope his Irish accent is fairly believable – Matthew, if you’re reading this, do NOT take Gerry Butler in P.S. I Love You as your template. That’d be like an actor studying Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins before embarking on an arc in EastEnders. We’re not doing a complete 180 yet, though, readers – but Leap Year is looking a lot more promising now than it did six months ago. To be sure, to be sure. Filming will start in – where else? – Ireland in March.
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