Rating: Summary: Watch this for Hugh... Review: I was so looking forward to seeing this movie and while it was worth the cost to see a stunningly handsome and realistic Hugh Jackman as a 19th century lord transported to modern-day New York, I have to say the rest of the movie is a let-down. I just did not buy Meg Ryan in her role (this type supposedly being her forte). I found her annoying and unbelievable. And forgive me, but when did the great love happen? Did I miss something? Overall, it was a cute story idea and Hugh Jackman as well as the other castmembers (excluding Ryan) were quite good. I just didn't buy this particular fairy tale.
Rating: Summary: Why Not Call It Leopold & Kate? Review: Director James Mangold tries mightily to create a romantic time travel movie whose focus is on love, not the paradoxes inherent in most time travel films. In KATE & LEOPOLD, Mangold instead creates a much less amusing movie than what he undoubtedly intended. First, Nicholas Meyer in TIME AFTER TIME did a much better job of plucking a Victorian gentleman out of the 19th century to find romance in the technological 20th century with a hip American woman. Now, I have no particular qualms about borrowing ideas from past successes, but at some point in the updated version, the director must do something original. Unfortunately, Mangold is content to let Meg Ryan, who has made a career of playing the ditsy cute blond, reprise a multitude of roles as Kate McKay, a modern career woman who begins the film in a way guaranteed to make the audience see her as a woman with serious romantic issues. Kate has just dumped her long-standing boyfriend Stuart (Liev Schreiber), but disconcertingly keeps calling him and bothering him for petty reasons. Into this falls (literally) a Victorian gentleman, Leopold, Duke of Albany (Hugh Jackman) who has time travelled from a 'portal' of time in 1876 to modern day Manhattan. Stuart is a time traveler who is visiting 1876 Manhattan and unexpectedly brings Leopold back with him to now. Nearly all of the charm of this film resides in Jackman, rather than in Ryan. Jackman's Leopold sets to rest the often quoted canard that most women only say that they want a gentlemen, but really want a 'bad boy' to degrade them with oafish behavior. Leopold is the quintessential gentleman who looks and acts the part. He stands up when a lady enters the room. He is unflaggingly polite. He even uses words in a way that can charm a fluttering feminine heart. With a man who apparently can have a variety of women, Mangold would have us believe that Leopold falls immediately in love with a woman who sees him only as the answer to a marketing problem from her job. I would have appreciated a softening of Kate's character to make the illusion of romance seem more seamless than it was. It is not Jackman's fault that he cannot carry the movie on his broad shoulders, though he comes close. Rather, when a romance flounders, the culprit is usually a miscasting of one of the leads or a clumsy hand on the director's part. It would have taken more courage than Mangold had to choose another female to play Kate. Perhaps a better choice would have been to swap roles with Kate's secretary (Natasha Lyonne), whose own goo-goo eyes at Leopold might have generated more chemistry. Further, Mangold overlooks a chink in Leopold's chivalry. During his return to 1876, Leopold is urged by his family to retrieve the family's finances by marriage with a wealthy, but clearly dorky-looking Miss Tree (Kristen Schaal). They dance while his uncle announces that Leopold will soon claim an unknown bride, apparently the unglamorous Miss Tree. When Kate swoops back into Leopold's time, we can see that she is being prepped as the receipient of his betrothal. As soon as Leopold sees Kate, he illogically falls out of character by dismissing Miss Tree without so much as a by your leave. At best, KATE & LEOPOLD is a mildly entertaining update of earlier and similar efforts. I doubt if too many viewers connected more to Meg Ryan than to Hugh Jackman, who now proves that he is more than just a warmed-over update of Hugh Grant. About the best thing that Mangold did was to avoid cluttering the movie with paradoxes of time travel. Still, if he wants to become a force in directing, he must learn more about what makes his characters attractive both to each other and to the audience.
Rating: Summary: A Lovely Romantic-Comedy Love Story Review: This movie is incredibly fantastic. It is a movie you can never get tired of. Meg Ryan is such a great actress. It is a movie for ladies and gentlemen. Hugh Jackman plays a suave, debanair, charming, gentlemen looking for a wife. Meg Ryan plays a business executive who is single. The story line is where Leopold lands into the 21st Century and stays with Kate's ex-boyfriend. Leopold somehow runs into Kate. Then the love story infolds. It is such a beautiful movie. After you see this movie you wish that you had a man like Leopold. (You can go to the Kate and Leopold website to see if your man is a Leopold.) I would recommend to see this movie!!
Rating: Summary: Not that bad, not that good Review: Leopold (Hugh Jackman) is a duke from 1876 who is on the verge of marrying for money. Through a reality-suspending twist of fate, he follows a man into a portal to the 21st century. That man is Stuart (Liev Schrieber), ex-boyfriend to Kate (Meg Ryan). When Stuart is involved in an accident, Leopold is left to fend for himself.Kate is unbelieving of Stuart's story and sends Leopold out into the city, leading to all of the expected fish-out-of-water adventures. This first portion of the movie is completely unorginal and provides little humor. Eventually, the 19th century charm is unleashed, and Leopold and Kate find themselves falling in love (as always happens when Meg Ryan is around, it seems). Kate is trying to climb the corporate ladder, yet Leopold leads her to quesion her motives and her desires. While the romantic portion is predictable, it is also reasonably enjoyable. And since the audience is probably familiar with the typical Meg Ryan movie formula, the lack of originality is forgivable. It is neither a terrific movie nor a horrible one.
Rating: Summary: it was...amazing! *laughs* Review: Even though Meg Ryan is a very good actress, this movie was all Hugh Jackman, baby. Without him, I don't think this movie would have even made it out to the public. Don't get me wrong, Meg Ryan wasn't bad in this movie - the role just didn't seem like it should be for her. Her cute little routine of scrunching up her nose and having that boyish walk was not exactly glorified in this movie, so heh yea..anyway, I recommend this movie for rainy days, I suppose, and when you have the urge to watch a gorgeous man (ahem, Hugh Jackman) strut his stuff. Very romantic, and so incredibly cute. It'll keep you entertained all the way through. =)
Rating: Summary: terrible waste of time. Review: It never ceases to amaze me that drivel like this gets funding but talented actors and film makers are overlooked by Hollywood and the public at large. Meg Ryan is irritating as usual in recent years in her typical dorky cutsy-poo role. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against her and I think she is a very capable actress but she hasn't reached outside of this type of role since "When A Man Loves a Woman." Hugh Jackman? I really don't understand the hype around him, he's not THAT good looking and he's a so-so actor. Breckin Myer was cute as Meg Ryan's brother but what made me stay awake and endure this movie was Natasha Lyonne. I was shocked she was in this since she's pretty much an indie queen and in my opinion way too talented to take a bit part in this fluff. Even her part in this can't persuade me to rate this above one star. Kate & Leopold was just painfully long and SO predictable. I, too, like the occassional light romantic comedy but c'mon, this just tried my patience.
Rating: Summary: Very Good Movie Review: This movie is the cutest! Meg Ryan is supurb in her role. I recommend this to anyone who likes romantic comedies.
Rating: Summary: Bring Back 1876! Review: "You can't live a fairy tale." Meg Ryan as Kate- Oh but I beg to differ, see this movie! Hugh Jackman is the Duke of Dashing charming, educated and witty. His portrayal of the lost in time noble brings across a genuine naivety that is both provocative and alluring. Meg Ryan is the quirky businesswoman driven to get ahead but blinded by that ambition to the advances of her superior. Enter Leopold to save the day! While not on the same level as Somewhere In Time as far as the movie's romantic intensity, it did have a more plausible means of time travel than Somewhere In Time. In Time, Richard Collier (Christopher Reeve) used a mind over matter technique. In Kate and Leopold, weather patterns were followed to find the time window then the person had to jump through the eye. It is worth the time to see it!
Rating: Summary: "Kate & Leopold" A new old fashion love story Review: This movie was terrific. It is wonderful to see the difference of yester year, and the peaceful and slow pace of the past. To the present of how life can be hectic and dreary. To bring them together is simply brillant. For those of us who wish for a true romantic love story this is definately it. Hugh Jackman is superb as the 19th century Duke of Albany, class, style, and elegance, any woman would fall for him. Meg Ryan, a busy executive, with no life to truly call her own. These to actors are truly ideal in this movie . If only time travel was possible. Who knows what we would find for ourselves.
Rating: Summary: Cute Romantic Comedy Review: 2 1/2 stars to this light-weight comedy/romance. It is harmless enough, and is cute, but there is little new material here. Meg Ryan ignores the man from the past and is too busy to see him for who he really is until her eyes are magically opened to his true nature as her dream guy. Cut plot, and a decent date movie, but it won't make anyone's top 10 list in any category.
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