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Monday, May 9, 2011

Kate & Leopold (2001) [PG-13] ***/****

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on Dec. 31, 2001.

For co-writer/director James Mangold, Kate & Leopold marks a change-of-pace. Mangold, whose previous efforts (Heavy, Copland, Girl Interrupted) have been dark, serious, and broody, has allowed himself to lighten up considerably this time around. Although he might not seem to be the perfect choice to direct a Meg Ryan romantic comedy, he proves himself up to the task. (Perhaps he viewed it as a challenge.) Kate & Leopold delivers the kind of warm, familiar mixed brew of romance, humor, light drama, and pleasant character interaction that has made many of Ryan's similar endeavors successful box office performers. There's nothing surprising about this movie, but it does what it's supposed to do, allowing us to leave the theater with a warm glow and a pleasantly satisfied feeling. Cynics, anti-romantics, and tough guys will, of course, despise it. Your appreciation of the Meg Ryan romantic comedy canon will be a good indicator of how you will react to Kate & Leopold.

In an attempt to add some freshness to the romance, Kate & Leopold throws a little science fiction flavoring into the cinematic stew. As it turns out, however, while this aspect of the film spices things up, it doesn't lead to anything ground-breaking. The Twilight Zone is kept at bay. It's more of a means to create a fish-out-of-water subplot than to investigate the paradoxes of time travel. But, as movies like Just Visiting have emphasized, the comic potential of placing a man from the past in our present isn't as great as one might expect. And perhaps Kate & Leopold's twist might have seemed more original if it hadn't been employed so recently in another motion picture. Brad Anderson's 2000 feature, Happy Accidents, paired Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio in the tale of a man who came back in time to fall in love. In Kate & Leopold, the time traveler is from the past, but there are similarities. And, in both cases, the love story aspect works better than the science fiction one.

Leopold, the Duke of Albany (Hugh Jackman), lives a life of privilege in 1876 until the night when he spies a stranger in his uncle's house. He pursues the man and ends up in 2001 New York City, in the apartment of Stuart (Liev Schreiber), his great-great-grandson. When Stuart is involved in an elevator accident that lands him in the hospital before he can send Leopold back to 1876, the Duke comes under the care of Stuart's ex-girlfriend and downstairs neighbor, Kate (Meg Ryan), and her actor brother, Charlie (Breckin Meyer). Kate knows the truth about Leopold, but doesn't believe it, and she bears her obligation of looking after him like a burden - until she realizes that he would be the perfect spokesperson for an advertising campaign her marketing company is working on. Suddenly, hard-bitten, unromantic Kate and Leopold, the psychotic escapee from a Renaissance Fair, are spending quite a bit of time together and falling in love. But there's an obvious problem in the form of a 125-year age gap.

Despite not having made a romantic comedy since 1998's You've Got Mail, Ryan slides smoothly into the part, exhibiting all the facial quirks and personality tics (not to mention the general luminosity) that have made her so popular over the years. Her opposite, Hugh Jackman, is guaranteed to make female viewers swoon. With an on-screen persona not unlike that of Rupert Everett in An Ideal Husband, Jackman's Leopold proves to be the perfect man - suave, handsome, intelligent, caring, capable, and a great dancer. In supporting roles, Liev Schreiber and Breckin Meyer provide most of the comic relief. Other secondary performers include Natasha Lyonne as Kate's assistant and Bradley Whitford as her boss.

One could argue that the dialogue in Kate & Leopold is a cut above that from many of Ryan's previous romantic comedies (except perhaps When Harry Met Sally…), but if this film is relying on its occasional zingers and smart bits of conversation to get bodies in theater seats, it's in trouble. People will go to see Ryan, who's as cute at age 40 as she was in her late 20s, and Jackman, who continues to prove that his range extends beyond that of playing Wolverine in X-Men. The chemistry between these two bubbles pleasantly. There's no powerful sexual attraction, but this movie is more about innocent romance than passion, so it works. Like most of Ryan's films, Kate & Leopold succeeds as a diversion (although, at two hours in length, it's too long). It is cinematic cotton candy - insubstantial perhaps, but ultimately sweet and pleasant to the taste. [Berardinelli’s rating: *** out of 4]

Labels: comedy, fantasy, period, rom-com-faves, romance, sci-fi, space-time

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