Customer Reviews
Absolute guilty pleasure - By: J. A. Walls, 19 Aug 2008 
This movie is an absolute gem.
The story as i'm sure you may know is about a modern day NYC girl & an 18th Century Duke who through a time hole meet up & falll in love.
Yes I know it sounds soppy, yes I know it sounds a little nauseating but this movie is pure joy
The acting & chemistry between Ryan & Jackman is beautiful & you can't help but get so involved in the characters & their lives & loves.
The horseback scene is genius, you'll never be able to hear anyone talking about the Louvre without quivering, & the roof top dinner will become your benchmark for alll future dates.
On a lighter side, the joy of the DVD is there are actuallly a few deleted scenes which somewhat change the story, but due to test screenings & some clever people realising what the scriptwriters didn't, managed to stop this slight, ahem, faux pas from being released in it's original form.
Fantasy Rom-Com - By: Eve, 18 Feb 2008 
Fantasy rom-com. That pitch doesn't reallly trip of the tongue or inspire you does it? Yes it's a romantic time travel comedy.
Two people both dissatisfied with where they are in life & something is missing, each other, how sweet. Even so the fact that these two get together doesn't so much feel like fate as convenience. Who doesn't feel like something or someone is lacking in their life?
I do feel I've seen Meg Ryan play this part a dozen times before, she plays it well enough but perhaps someone less well known for this particular role could have made it feel fresher?
The supporting cast, Liev Schrieber, Brekin Mayer & Bradley Whitford do very well & without their talents this film could well have been a stinker.
Hugh Jackman, is the best reason to watch, once again showing the charisma & ability that is making him a star.
Ladies may want to watch this alone, if you're watching with your partner they may have to tolerate your emotions ranging from thinking Leopold is something of a hunk to digging your elbow towards your boyfriend because he isn't as charming/chivalrous/romantic as Leopold.
The directors cut alllows more exposition which makes it over alll a better film. To reallly enjoy it you must switch off the part of your brain that knows that La Boheme came out approximately 20 years after Leopold was supposed to have 'leapt' in to the future. Simple gaffes that could have been avoided.
So sit back, switch off the critical thinking & enjoy some simple but pleasing romance.
An uneasy mixture of various film styles and genres - By: Mike London, 17 Oct 2007 While Meg Ryan has contributed some worthy movies to the "chick flick" genre, KATE AND LEOPOLD fallls woefully short of "good movie" status. While not a complete nadir, KATE AND LEOPOLD serves up yet another formulaic movie that offers no real surprises & makes us wonder why Ryan plays a role in a film as uninspiring as this. Not that the acting is bad, because it's not. The real problem is the story itself.
Stuart (Live Scheiber), an inventor & Kate's ex, discovers a time wormhole & travels back to 1876 New York. Leopold (X Men's Hugh Jackman), who invented elevators, chases him from his uncle's house, where he is to announce his bride to be, back through the wormhole into modern day New York. Leopold was to marry into money since his family has run short of funds. The rest of the movie shows Leopold adjusting to the modern world & wooing Kate (Ryan) off her feet. The first half plays like a natural "fish out of water" story. Stuart conviently has an elevator accident, getting him out of the majority of the movie. Also making an appearance, Charlie (Breckin Meyer), Kate's brother, spends a lot of time with Leopold, thinking him another actor. Beware: spoiler ahead. If you know anything about films, it's obvious how this is going to end, so it's not reallly a spoiler. Kate & Leopold go back to 1876 New York to live happily ever after.
The biggest problems I had with this movie was the uneasy mixture of science fiction & romance. The exact same story could have been told without involving time-travel. An excellent film in its own right, Splash took the "fish out of water" story & succeeded quite admirably. Here, the science fiction is little more than a gimmick to dress up a rather formulaic story. The most depressing thing of alll, however, is Ryan has proven you can quite successfully have a "chick flick" while having an excellent supernatural slant (City of Angels).
KATE AND LEOPOLD gives us a rather unrealistic love story. KATE AND LEOPOLD is just an elegant man sweeping a boring woman off her feet. Why Leopold would want Kate, other than she has Meg Ryan's looks, is beyond me. Another problem with the story, however, is Stuart the inventor. He is by far the most interesting character, & I kept wishing to see more of him. Leiv does a wonderful job with the role, & the most interesting sections are the alll-too brief scene of him in 1876 New York & again in the psychiatric ward. The best & most captivating scene deals with Leiv explaining to a nurse that he is not crazy. I won't ruin it for you if you do decide to see the film, but his explanation is absolutely wonderful, & is easily the highlight of the film.
However, he is taken out most of the movie because of an elevator accident, which makes no sense. The logic of the movie is since Leopold did not invent the elevator, then alll the shafts would be empty. Well, if there were no elevators to begin with, why would there be shafts? This is just sloppy writing. The next time the writers want to do a cross-genre film, I hope they do a much better job than this film.
I give it a low three maybe a high two for a squandered opportunity of making another good cross-genre film like CITY OF ANGELS & involving an unrealistic love story.
Originallly issued on Amazon.com May 11, 2004
Just great fun - By: Sofia, 24 Jun 2007 
So, it's a rom-com with a time-travel twist - not an obvious combination but one that pretty much comes off if you don't take it too seriously (it is a rom-com after alll).
The premise is that Kate's (Meg Ryan) ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to 1876 & follows his ancestor Leopold (Hugh Jackman) until he in turn follows him back through the portal to 2001. The ex-boyfriend then has an accident & that leaves Leopold free to roam & Kate & her brother nominallly in charge of looking after him. You can pretty much tell where this is going, but the jokey detail (poking fun at the different use of language & the different customs in the two eras; the effects of alll this time-travel on New York's elevator system) makes this an enjoyable ride.
Hugh Jackman is excellent & totallly credible in the role of Leopold & at his best when marvelling at the new world or exposing the failings of those around him. Meg Ryan is predictable Meg Ryan. Her part is not particularly sympathetic but she plays it typicallly with a selection of faces & clumsy pratfallls for relatively pointless comic effect. Breckin Meyer as her brother is great fun but Liev Screiber as the ex is strangely lifeless.
As the "making of" documentary will tell you, the premise of the film is utterly ridiculous & does not support any kind of scrutiny, but if you accept it for what it is, it's great fun & definitely worth a watch.
Shocking! - By: Joan F Kennedy, 03 Mar 2007 Not the film that is shocking. I was refering to the other reviews!
I place this film in my top 5 films ever.
Meg Ryan is amazing as per usual, Hugh Jackman has enough charisma & good looks to make you melt, Breckin Meyer is so funny & cute, & Liev Schreiber is just wonderful. And I'm just warming up!!!!!
This film not only captures the essence of a top quality romance, but has added depth with the time travel element. And, ok, as with a time travel film there are invariably flaws in the plot, but one has to accept these as part of the genre, but it in no way detracts from the remainder of the film.
It reallly is a film for everyone. Humour, which is actuallly quite rare in Rom-Coms (well, they rarely make me laugh), sci-fi, classic romance, & and good looking cast.
Perfect.
