Kate & Leopold: Rating: 1 stars

An English duke (Hugh Jackman) accidentally time-travels to the future, where he meets ultra-modern Kate (Meg Ryan). Boredom ensues.

Kate & Leopold (2001)
2001 · · PG-13 Drama
Reviewed September 13, 2006

Much as I hate fluffy romantic comedies starring Meg Ryan (or any cutesy, blonde, girl-next-door variation thereof), I could imagine that this kind of plot would have a lot of potential — fish-out-of-water jokes involving the befuddled time-traveller, amusing miscommunications as those around him try to grasp his otherworldlinesss, and plenty of sweet love scenes as the jaded modern woman falls for the chivalrous knight-in-armor. Unfortunately, no such luck — they tried, I think, but it did not work. Can a film be both too straightforward and ridiculously complicated at the same time? This one is. Meg Ryan’s brittleness grates so much that it is entirely impossible to believe that anyone, anyone at all, could fall head-over-heels for the shrill and annoying Kate in under a week. Hugh Jackman turns in a decent performance as the cultured and intelligent Leopold, trying valiantly to add dimension to what is essentially a paper-thin role. In short, the lack of originality is stunning, even for a light throwaway film like this. It’s all summed up in the title — despite all the interesting puns, phrases, and charming wordplays they could have come up with, they could only think to name it after the two main characters. Yawn.