Kate & Leopold Synopsis: An English Duke from 1876 is inadvertently dragged to modern day New York where he falls for a plucky advertising executive.
When Leopold (Hugh Jackman), an 18th-century duke (and eventual inventor of the elevator), spots a man out of time, he gives chase and falls through a portal to present-day New York City. The man is named Stuart (Liev Schreiber), a scientist who discovered a rip in the fabric of time and used it to explore the past. Marketing executive Kate McKay (Meg Ryan) is his ex-girlfriend who lives in the same apartment building as Stuart. Circumstances push Kate and Leopold together; despite their differences, an attraction blooms.
I won’t lie, I was pretty shocked when I saw that James Mangold directed this—James Mangold of Ford and Ferrari, Girl Interrupted, and Logan. Kate & Leopold does not come anywhere close to the quality of those films, although it’s pleasant enough for a mindless rom-com.
The story itself reminded me a lot of Enchanted. While Hugh Jackman, like Amy Adams, is charming as the fish out of water royalty (or soon-to-be royalty), Kate & Leopold lacks the chemistry between its two leads that made Enchanted work so well. I have loved Meg Ryan in many movies, but her performance here feels pretty flat. I enjoyed Leopold’s scenes with Stuart and Kate’s brother Charlie (Breckin Meyer) more than the ones he shared with Kate. Knowing that the role of Kate was initially meant for Sandra Bullock, I can’t help but wonder what if…
However, I’m not even sure Bullock could have saved the movie. I have watched enough rom-coms to know that most of them require a suspension of belief. I can buy into even the most ridiculous plots if there’s enough charm, comedy, and romantic heat to distract me from them. Unfortunately, there are just too many contrived moments and obvious plot holes that I found it challenging to focus on anything else.
If it weren’t so predictable, if there had been more chemistry between Kate and Leopold, then maybe I wouldn’t have minded the silliness of it all. There was simply no way that I could believe Kate would leave everything behind, her job and brother, to go back in time to the 18th century to be with Leopold, even if he looks like Hugh Jackman.
Speaking of Jackman, he’s the only reason to watch this movie. He takes what would have been a bland, preposterous role and instead presents Leopold as incredibly affable and charismatic. Hugh Jackman is why I’m giving this movie 2.5 stars instead of anything lower. I wish he would do another rom-com. So, if you’re a big Hugh Jackman fan, give this a shot. Otherwise, I’d say steer clear of Kate & Leopold. If you want a romantic fish-out-of-water movie, go with Enchanted.
Watched: 04/15/2020
Notable Song: Until by Sting
Katy
April 20, 2020Nice review! I remember watching this growing up because hello Hugh Jackman. lol But that said, the story was trying to hard to make it seem like their relationship was destiny. I liked the cast, but yes, Meg was totally miscast. I kind of feel like Amy Adams would’ve been a cute fit instead.
Sara
April 22, 2020Yeah, the whole “you’re supposed to go back!” just made ZERO sense to me. Originally they were going to have Stuart be Leopold’s descendant which is why he goes back in time, but then they realized that would mean he was Kate’s too and ew… lol
Amy Adams would have been perfect!
sati
April 24, 2020“There was just simply no way that I could believe Kate would leave everything behind, her job and brother, to go back in time to the 18th century just to be with Leopold, even if he does look like Hugh Jackman.” – oh I instantly believed she would 🙂
Sara
April 24, 2020HA! I didn’t buy it coming from her character. I could totally see you jumping into a time portal for Hugh though. 😀
sati
May 1, 2020Hell, I’d just into volcano for him