Leap on This

Leap Year is a delightful cinematic romp in which Amy Adams plays a woman who brings her fiancé to Ireland to propose to him. Oh, wait. No, that's not it. That's the English-language movie that came out last year. This year's Leap Year, AKA Año Bisiesto, is a tad darker -- as in loneliness, depression, rough sex, and general Mexico City melancholy. Yeah! Now we're talking. Written and directed by Australian Michael Rowe -- who lives in Mexico -- this movie is about as cheerful as waterboarding, with some hard-core sex scenes to match. Laura is an overweight freelance writer stuck in a dumpy Mexico City apartment. She spends her time blowing bubbles, spying on a young couple in an adjacent building, and getting her screw on with a revolving door of one-night-stands. That is until Arturo walks into her life -- and all over her. He likes it rough, and as disturbing as some of their sexual episodes are, Laura begins to crave them. As you might expect, it's all about Daddy for Laura, and you'll be left wondering whether love can really blossom when there are cigarette burns on one partner's boobs. To recap, if you're looking for a Pollyanna Amy Adams on a tour of Europe, see last year's Leap Year. If you're looking for real life, in aesthetics and substance, watch this year's Leap Year at O Cinema. The film opens Thursday.
Thu., Sept. 15, 8 p.m., 2011