In association with

Kate And Leopold [2002]
from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
starring Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne
directed by James Mangold

Features:

• Dubbed
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

On its theatrical release, James Mangold's romantic comedy Kate & Leopold was rightly panned for holes in the logic of its time-travel plot. Stewart (Liev Schreiber) finds a portal to 1876 and goes to observe his ancestor Leopold, Duke of Albany (Hugh Jackman) who then follows him back to 2001. Since Leopold is responsible for inventing a key component in lifts, this instantly causes problems.

The gallant Leopold charms, and is charmed by Stewart's ex, Kate (Meg Ryan), a hard-boiled cynical marketing expert who finds in Victorian idealism a corrective to her view of the world. And this is part of the problem with the film--we cannot entirely believe in Meg Ryan as a cynic, or that her problems can be resolved by going off to 1876 to be with her aristocratic sweetie, and much of the film has an oddly sour hostility to its heroine. Hugh Jackman is a delight in the fish-out-of-water scenes and Breckin Meyer is also very funny as Kate's actor brother, who assumes Leopold is a colleague sunk deep into the creation of a part.

On the DVD Kate and Leopold has crisp Dolby 5:1 sound, which allows the very different acoustics of the two historical periods to be neatly contrasted, and is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. We get both the theatrical and Director's cut, both offered with commentary, though the Director's cut audio track is more polemical. The Director's cut restores some expository material and makes more sense. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Absolute guilty pleasure
  This movie is an absolute gem.
  The story as i'm sure you may know is about a modern day NYC girl and an 18th Century Duke who through a time hole meet up and fall in love.
  Yes I know it sounds soppy, yes I know it sounds a little nauseating but this movie is pure joy
  The acting and chemistry between Ryan and Jackman is beautiful and you can't help but get so involved in the characters and their lives and loves.
  The horseback scene is genius, you'll never be able to hear anyone talking... more info

• Fantasy Rom-Com
  Fantasy rom-com. That pitch doesn't really 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 and 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... more info

• An uneasy mixture of various film styles and genres
  While Meg Ryan has contributed some worthy movies to the "chick flick" genre, KATE AND LEOPOLD falls 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 and 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 and Kate's ex, discovers a time wormhole and travels back... more info

• Just great fun
  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 all).
  The premise is that Kate's (Meg Ryan) ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to 1876 and 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 and that leaves Leopold free to roam and Kate and her brother nominally in charge of looking after him. You... more info

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