MovieChat Forums > Leap Year (2010) Discussion > This story is about knowing your self wo...

This story is about knowing your self worth

posted 9 years ago by TamPalm
4 replies | jump to latest

I do believe that what sets this cute little at-times ridiculous movie apart from other rom-coms is that while it is definitely a romance of sorts, the overall theme is about loving oneself and knowing your self worth. No doubt Declan was unnecessarily rude to Anna many times, but I think a lot of his rudeness was frustration with how weak and desperate she was, how she was so willing to settle for someone who obviously didn't really know or respect her. Declan saw Anna's worth even when she didn't. Even in her proposal to him she diminished herself and her expectations: "Do you want to not make plans with me?" I loved that he rejected that. He rejected her diminishing of herself: "I want to MAKE plans with you." After four years of being with someone who clearly treated her like an afterthought, in that moment, she finally realized that she was good enough to be someone's priority, someone's choice. It was a powerful self-evolutionary moment for her. To me, this is the main journey of the movie. I've seen this movie quite a bit and it really just hit me why I'm drawn to this otherwise seemingly average film (besides Goode's good looks lol).

Anyone else see the film similarly?

"If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." -- Judge Judy

[–] BritGirl1988 9 years ago

Interesting points. I agree totally except for one point.

I wonder about what people on this board interpret as 'rudeness' in the dialogue. Maybe in the first phase of their relationship - yes - mainly because Anna is bloody annoying. As the relationship continues it is more affectionate - calling her 'pukey' and saying 'who told you that?' when she said her legs were her best feature, etc.

I don't know if the scriptwriters were american or brits but that is just what brits and the irish do - we take the piss out of people. It is 'banter' - our whole sense of humour is based on teasing others and mostly putting down ourselves. We tease the people we love most of all - it's not rudeness to us.

BritGirl

[–] Rpdsf 9 years ago

Very insightful analysis. It had been a while since I last watched this movie and with your take on it in mind, I have to say that it made a lot of sense.

[–] always_keep_fighting 8 years ago

I agree with 90% of the OP. For one thing, different cultures treat strangers and friends in different ways. Also, as Anna said, Declan was in pain. Pain makes people rough around the edges.

[–] pikrodafni 8 years ago

I (almost) totally agree with you. And I love that towards the end of the trip they do everything they can to stay together just a little while more ("I'm paying you to take me to Dublin") and then walking to the hotel when they could just take a taxi and be done with it.

But Goode was not looking good in this film. I've seen him looking better. :)
Actually, I think they should have chosen someone else. He is not into this film at all. He looks bored most of the time. He is not believable. Amy is, bless her.