The quality of movies from Singapore is on the rise, but it is movies like The Leap Years that get you wondering if we are just trying too hard.

Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, a pioneer movie company in Singapore, and Ochre Pictures have joined forces to produce their first English love story. A quick look at Raintree’s portfolio gives you an idea of the local movie scene: Jack Neo movies, horror movies, forgettable titles (Chicken Rice War, anyone?), and some good productions. The Leap Years falls under “forgettable titles”.

The story centers around Li-Ann (played by Wong Li Lin, and Joan Chen as the older Li-Ann) who was born on Feb 29. Li-Ann, despite being a kind and beautiful girl, is somehow one of those “never been kissed” innocent.

In the first birthday we see her celebrate, she is a student in school who gets inspired by when her literature teacher talks about a dialogue by Plato. In the Symposium, Plato wrote about what he calls an absurd eulogy to love. Primal people were once of three sexes: All male, all female, and the “androgynous”, which were half male, half female. When people decided to go against the gods, Zeus decided to chop them into half. Therefore, we spend the rest of our lives running around, looking for our other half.

Li-Ann draws out her other half as a blue whale, much to the amusement of her three friends, Suneetha (Nadya Hutagalung), Kim (Paula Malai Ali) and Jennie (Vernetta Lopez).

She holds on to the hope of true love until her 24th birthday, or her sixth as she puts it. Just like a fairytale, she chances upon Jeremy (played by Thai heartthrob Anand Everingham) at Windows Cafe. Remembering the Irish tradition that a woman may propose to a man on Feb 29, with the condition that the man cannot refuse or he will pay a fine, she asks him for a date, and he agrees.

The scene of the date was really quite a failure. The two leads, though really attractive people, displayed no chemistry. After spending two precious hours together buying char kway teow, visiting Jeremy’s godmother and lying on the top of a shophouse where Jeremy used to live, they part with each other. They make a promise to meet again every Feb 29.

At this moment, the only thing you would ponder over is how it is almost impossible that Li-Ann could determinedly say that Jeremy is “the one” and go on pining for him for years. During the 12 years that the story spans, they only see each other for a grand total of three times.

Adding to the confusion is Li-Ann’s good friend KS (Qi Yuwu) who is madly in love with Li-Ann and waits in vain for her. Thankfully, he finds his true love later on in the show. Qi Yuwu, in his bid to become an Asian movie star, valiantly struggles with the English language in this film.

The prospect of a love story that blossoms in leap years did sound like something different, but the movie failed to show why it was necessary. Questions like why the couple could only meet on Feb 29 was not answered, and simply shrugged off with Li-Ann surmising that such questions were not important to them.

The use of inspiring quotes from William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, and Oscar Wilde throughout the movie made it rather pretentious.

And for a local film, there are hardly any characteristics of Singapore in it. The characters all talk in pseudo slang and spend their time sipping wine or hanging out in some arty-farty cafe. Li-Ann herself lives in a quaint little shophouse and opens a book cafe. Sure, they definitely showed the prettiest parts of Singapore, can’t help but wonder how this could be the backdrop for a local love story. It might have been more convincing if they did not speak like they were from America, and carried out their awkward romance under the HDB void deck instead.

The saving grace of the movie was perhaps, the soundtrack. The songs, mostly by Singaporean singer Corrinne May, were well used. Cynical people (like this writer) need not bother to watch this movie, or you will find your eyes have rolled out on the floor after that.

But go ahead and spend that 10 bucks if you love clichés and “heartwarming love stories”.

UrbanWire gives The Leap Years 2.5 out of 5 stars

Movie Details

Opens: Feb 29

Running Time: 103 mins

Language: English

Cast: Wong Li Lin, Anand Everingham, Vernetta Lopez

Director: Jean Yeo