Kate & Leopold

Rating:
Summary: Traditional and beautiful
Review: Kate and Leopold is the perfect date movie. Its not the most original, and may be predictable but its certainly one that's worth seeing. Its about this duke Leopold and how he ends up in the 21st Century, and falls in love with Kate. Anyways in this culture it seems as though women are nothing more than sex objects since there are songs that degrade women and women in movies are often portrayed that way.

Its nice to see a movie where women are respected and honored. Kate and Leopold is a movie that's worth checking out, despite some of its minor and objectionable content. This is not just a chick flick, women and men can both learn from Kate and Leopold. That truth, respect, and honor is still something that is valued to this very day.

Rating:
Summary: I've seen it 4 times!!
Review: I LOVE "Kate & Leopold". Oh sure, the story is lightweight, there are some holes and inconsistencies, but with the gorgeous Hugh Jackman around, who cares! He is perfect as Duke Leopold, handsome, sexy, charming, charisma to spare, and all but steals the film from his co-star. Since seeing this movie I have rented or purchased Jackman's other films and he has talent to spare....the films are all totally different but the one constant is that Jackman inhabits his characters and is the focal point. Okay, I'm obsessed with him, but there are worse things than that.

Rating:
Summary: Kate & Leopold "A unique love story"
Review: This was an absolutely wonderful movie. For those of us who long for love to to come along on a white horse, this is the movie for true hearts. A man out of time with never feeling loved, and a business women who constantly gets burned, love is just a century away for both. For the women of the world who long for a true gentleman, Hugh Jackman proves he is that. His mannerisms, his elegant taste in clothes and notablity of how to truly treat a woman is superb. Of course for the present business woman, who either doesn't have time for a relationship or who can never find the right man, these two characters prove that anything is possible, whether it be time, fate, or pure destiny. This movie has it all. Now I just wish I could find my true Prince on a white horse...

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I think this was one of Meg Ryans best movies. It was a classic love story. It was just absolutely wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting twist on your typical romance!
Review: Now I must admit...this movie was nothing exceptional. There were no high tech special effects, deep plotline, guns, sex like your typical "top" movies out there today.

On the contrary, this movie is very simple. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. An unexpected couple..overcome the odds (and in this case, time), fall in love, and live happily ever after.

Yes, the whole time twist at times was incredibly corny, but it still gives this movie a touch of something unfamiliar to today's audience. (Perhaps that it doesn't take place in an American high school?)

Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman are sweet. They fit their roles quite well, and seem to have thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Simply stated, this movie was cute. Nothing exceptional, but surely, something at least worth renting a few times. It's a very good date movie, certainly. I imagine watching this movie cuddled up with a loved one by a fire...ahhh....l'amour. ;)

Rating:
Summary: For Women Only, a Guilty Pleasure
Review: I couldn't have dragged my husband to this movie for anything. Besides, I would have never heard the end of it if I had. So I saw it with my friend, Joyce, instead, and we both had a Hugh Jackman fantasy-filled afternoon. Yes, Jackman is the #1 reason to see this film. He is a wonderful leading man, fulfilling all of the promise he showed in "Someone Like You." He is just perfect as the English duke transported to present day Manhattan from his own days in the late 1800s, prior to his inventing the elevator. Meg Ryan is fine as his love interest but has the hairdo from hell through most of it, which is very distracting. Also, she is often on the edge of being annoying to the viewer with her "Ryanisms", that we've learned via her earlier roles, but basically her chemistry works with Jackman. That's all that is required because women will want to see this film for Jackman. This is a light as a feather romance that is a feel-good film throughout for the viewer. If you are looking for weightier fare, this is not it. For what it is, light romance, it was a perfect Friday afternoon's matinee for me and Joyce.

Rating:
Summary: a great fiction fantasy
Review: I did not expect much , but I like Meg Ryan. I was pleasantly surprised to find a science fiction romance involving Ms Ryan.

The theory was a novel time rift that allowed one to travel thru time, with the ability to change time and history. The movie was a fun- filled, relationship challenging time with a race to see wether true love would win out in the end. The Duke from the past was excellant in his adaptation to the "new" world.

I enjoyed it.

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Rating:
Summary: Yes, I know, but I liked it anyway.
Review: How can anyone expect a movie about time travel to be consistant and realistic. With all the stuff out there that gives you nightmares, bombards your ears with bad language and your eyes with explicit sex, a sweet clean movie that makes you feel kind of good is a welcome change. If you can't believe a girl would jump off the Brooklyn bridge to get a guy, take a look at Hugh Jackman...total biscuit.

Rating:
Summary: Could've have gotten 5 stars but....
Review: ...It moved too slow and the ending ended....quickly.
Leopold is a poor Duke living in the 1870's and for a man in his time he is very advanced and has high hopes for the future with his ideas only no one really believes in his ideas least of all his uncle who now wants Leopold to marry and settle down with a rich woman. On the night where he has to make his choice on a bride a strange man named Stuart is lurking around Leopold's mansion in Brooklyn. Leo chases him and they fall off the bridge landing in the present time and here Stuart tells Leo that Leo is his great, great grandfather. In comes Kate, Stuart's ex girlfriend who now lives above Stuart's apartment and Leo is drawn to her, but she doesn't believe in love nor the magic of its feeling, but Leo is a true gentleman who decides to court Kate only with one problem, what will he do when he goes back to his time?
A sweet romantic comedy, but not a movie for action lovers. This is solely a movie for Hugh Jackman fans who get to see him with a lovely accent and quite a different role than the other movies he has made. He is truly a rising star.
The ending was rather silly though. Everything happened in less than 3 minutes when it should have had at least 10-15 minutes to let us indulge what was happening. Meg Ryan is still acting like if she were again making French Kiss but still a lovely comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Ryan, Jackman Deserve Better
Review: In itself, there's a sense of the romantic in the notion of time travel; and when you introduce the idea of two people traveling through time to find one another-- when you factor in love-- it puts the romance in the romantic. It's quite a concept, and it's the basis of director James Mangold's "Kate and Leopold," starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, a film that asks the audience to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours and just go with the flow. In other words, don't look too deep into this one; if you can do that, you may have a good time with this film, but bear in mind you're going to have to meet it at least half-way for it to be what it was meant to be: Pure entertainment; no more, no less.

It's New York, 1876; the Brooklyn Bridge (which ultimately figures prominently in the plot) is being built, and though John Roebling's "erection" (as it is referred to) is of great interest to Leopold Mountbatten (Jackman), Duke of Albany, there are more pressing matters in his life. His Uncle Millard (Paxton Whitehead) is insisting that Leopold choose a bride from amongst the most rich and available of society, and has arranged for a ball to be held at his mansion, at which time his nephew will announce the name of the lucky lady. At the ball, however, a stranger catches Leopold's eye, who-- when he notices he is being watched-- bolts from the premises with Leopold in pursuit. The chase takes them to the bridge, whereupon something inexplicable happens, and Leopold suddenly finds himself in New York, 2001, in the apartment of the man he had been chasing, Stuart Besser (Liev Schreiber). Things happen fairly rapidly after that, and very quickly Leopold meets Stuart's ex-girlfriend (who lives upstairs), Kate McKay (Ryan). And then the real story begins as, not surprisingly (refer to title of film here), Kate and Leopold discover that there may be something more to their chance meeting than just a newly founded friendship. But there's a problem, and it's a big one: They happen to live in different centuries...

In the final analysis, this mildly diverting, minor romantic fantasy is buoyed by the star power it employs, without which it would barely stay afloat. Not that it's a "bad" movie, but it suffers from a decided lack of originality in both story and presentation. Given the concept of the film, it needed an imaginative touch to really make it work, and unfortunately, Mangold was unable to provide it. And it's a shame, because in Ryan and Jackman he had two of the main ingredients for success, but he failed to make the most of it. Like mixing metaphors, mixing genres is a hard sell to begin with, and it's imperative that the filmmaker have a definite vision going into such an undertaking; Spike Jonze did with "Being John Malkovich" (from which this film borrows the concept, as well as the context, of the "time portal,") and was successful. Mangold, however, failed to realize such a vision, and the moment passed him by.

As the Duke, Hugh Jackman gives a convincing performance, complete with a passable British accent. And you have to give Jackman credit for constantly striving to expand his horizons artistically; he's done science fiction ("X-Men"), romantic comedy ("Someone Like You"), action/thriller ("Swordfish") and now this, which is different still. Also to his credit, he's done well in them all. With such a diverse resume, he's already demonstrated his versatility and ability as an actor, and add to that the fact that he has a definite screen presence, and you know-- without a doubt-- that you're looking at a "star" who is only just beginning his ascent, the kind who will bring more than "celebrity" to whatever role he takes on. Definitely an actor of whom we will be seeing a lot more.

Meg Ryan is a versatile actor, as well, who can do drama (she was outstanding in "When A Man Loves A Woman"), or action/drama ("Proof of Life"), but her forte is romantic comedy ("Sleepless In Seattle," "You've Got Mail"). As Kate, however, she gets caught up in her character with the same misdirection that characterizes this entire film. On one hand, Kate is sweet and perky (traits upon which Ryan has successfully capitalized elsewhere), but there is also a more jaded side to Kate, the businesswoman striving to get ahead (More like Diane Keaton's J.C. in "Baby Boom"), and these two sides of Kate's personality, rather than making her a complex character, simply do not seem to gel, and at times the demands of the way in which the character is written takes it's toll on credibility; and in a story like this, the one thing you absolutely need is believable characters, people you can accept as presented. And there are too many moments in which the side Ryan is attempting to convey seems forced. I hasten to add that it is not entirely her fault; the character is poorly written, and Mangold did not serve his star well. It goes back to the vision of the director. A Nora Ephron, for example, knows how to get the best out of someone like Ryan, whereas Mangold simply does not.

Turning in notable performances in supporting roles are Liev Schreiber, another gifted actor who has yet to have his day in the spotlight (he has one of the best voices in the business, so effective in his terrific portrayal of Orson Welles in "RKO 281"); and Breckin Meyer, convincing as Kate's actor brother, Charlie.

The supporting cast includes Natasha Lyonne (Darci), Bradley Whitford (J.J.), and Philip Bosco (Otis). The anticipation for this film was high, but ambiguous direction and lack of definition causes "Kate and Leopold" to misfire at just about every turn. Ryan, Jackman, Schreiber and Meyer deserve better than this, and so does the audience. The magic just isn't there.