This movie is very similar to the classic buddy comedy Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in which John Candy and Steve Martin encounter every obstacle imaginable on their way home for the holidays — excepting, of course, that this is a romantic comedy, so some of the situations are a bit different. Nevertheless, the situational comedy is just as funny as in that classic. Though the construct of the uptight and controlling person who gradually loosens up over the course of a journey has obviously been done before, I don't think it's been done entirely like this. There seems to be no limit to the amount of bad weather that Anna can encounter, and no limit to the amount of mistakes she can make with the people she meets, either. I love the number of superstitions and runs of “bad luck” that are thrown in to this movie, even though Anna doesn't believe in such a thing as luck. It's fun to see her shrug off a black cat, only to have the car she's using run into a lake, or ignore the warning about not traveling on Sundays, only to spill wine on a bride's wedding gown. And Amy Adams pulls each of these things off with perfection.

Another part of this movie that's perfect? The recurring question of what you would pull from your home if it was on fire and you only had a single minute to get out. When Anna is first asked this question by her Irish escort, she ponders it, but flounders at coming up with an answer. She doesn't seem to know how to respond. But by the end of the film, she is able to truly address why she was unable to answer the question the first time around. And what follows is so sweet and so fitting in the world of romantic comedies. Maybe it doesn't serve to push the movie into the “must-see” category, but it does make me want to tell you that you should give it a chance. Even if the ending doesn't surprise you, you might find yourself surprised by just how much you liked it.