Themes: Time Travel, Supernatural Romance, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Filmmaker James Mangold follows his Oscar-winning drama Girl, Interrupted (1999) with this whimsical fantasy. Meg Ryan stars as Kate McKay, a modern female executive in New York City whose drive to succeed in the cutthroat corporate world has left little time for romance. When her genius ex-boyfriend Stuart (Liev Schreiber) opens a portal in time, the experiment transports Leopold (Hugh Jackman) from 1867 to the present day. A charming bachelor and the royal "Third Duke of Albany" in his own time, Leopold is fascinated by the 21st century. As the courtly Leopold and the decidedly liberated Kate tour the town, a mutual attraction develops into something deeper, a relationship that's threatened by Leopold's temporary chronological status. Kate & Leopold (2001) was originally developed by co-screenwriter Steve Rogers as a project for star/producer Sandra Bullock, who had a hit with his film Hope Floats (1998). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
A fun, quirky romantic comedy-fantasy that is never entirely convincing in its romance, but finds hilarious purchase in the form of Hugh Jackman, who marvelously inhabits the script's best-written fish-out-of-water scenes. Jackman is superb as a 19th century nobleman encountering such modern abominations as pooper scooper laws and false advertising, but the passion that should be at the story's heart falls woefully flat. Mostly that's because the filmmakers have blown a prime opportunity for richer storytelling by calling upon Meg Ryan to deliver nothing more than another solid, if by now predictable, variation on her "klutzy modern gal pining for real romance" routine. How much better a film might have resulted if Ryan, a capable actress who has done underrated and complex work in such films as Restoration (1995) and Courage Under Fire (1996), had been required to play someone less familiar? What's so fascinating about the fictional concept of time travel is the contrast it provides between contemporary life and that of another era. In Leopold's relationship with the modern world, the film has a lot to say about what we've sacrificed at the altar of profit and career, but in his relationship with Kate, Kate and Leopold (2001) becomes about nothing more than packaging and marketing a product, sadly proving its own point. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Natasha Lyonne - Darci; Bradley Whitford - J.J. Camden; Paxton Whitehead - Uncle Millard; Spalding Gray - Dr. Geisler; Philip Bosco - Otis; Bill Corsair - Limo Driver; Francis Dumaurier - Faux Emeril; Robert Manning - Passerby; John Rothman - Executive #1; James Mangold - Movie Director; Martha Madison - Office Woman; Matthew Sussman - Ad Executive Phil; Arthur Nascarella - Gracey; Jonathan Fried - Faux Wolfgang; Charlotte Ayanna - Patrice; Ebony Jo-Ann - Nurse Ester; Frank Arcuri - 1876 Doorman; David Aaron Baker - Studio Executive; Andrea Barnes - Clara; Matthew Beisner - Commercial Director; Henry Boyle - Cab Driver; Cornelius Byrne - Carriage Driver; Michael Cassady - Executive #3; Kevin Daniels - Doorman at party; Viola Davis - Policewoman; Russell Di Perna - Bridge Cop; George Hahn - Assistant Director; Nai Yuan Hu - Rooftop Violinist; Andrew Jack - Roebling; Brian Letscher - Ad Executive; Chazz Menedez - Purse Thief; Stephanie Montalvo - CRG Intern; Joe Mosso - Cameraman; Brandon Parrish - Dennis; Dennis Rees - Executive #2; Stephanie Sanditz - Gretchin; William Sanford - Barry; Kristen Schaal - Miss Tree; Ray Seiden - Sanitation worker; Michael Shelle - Distinquished Actor; Josh Stamberg - Colleague Bob; Brittney Startzman - Monica; Roma Torre - TV Newscaster; Stan Tracy - Photogropher; Cole Hawkins - Hector
Credit
Jess Gonchor - Art Director, Dan Guachione - Boom Operator, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Lorna Ventura - Choreography, William Stromberg - Conductor, Christopher Goode - Co-producer, Donna Zakowska - Costume Designer, Iris Lemos - Costume Designer, Nick Mastandrea - First Assistant Director, James Mangold - Director, David Brenner - Editor, Kerry Orent - Executive Producer, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Meryl Poster - Executive Producer, Alan Dangerio - Hair Styles, Peg Schierholz - Hair Styles, Jessica Archer - Location Manager, Carla Raij - Location Manager, Rolfe Kent - Composer (Music Score), Karen Kawahara - Makeup, Stephen Kelley - Makeup, Lukasz Jogalla - Camera Operator, Mark Friedberg - Production Designer, Stuart Dryburgh - Cinematographer, Elizabeth Hirsch - Production Manager, Cathy Konrad - Producer, Mathew Price - Production Sound, Ted Barela - Recording, Tracy Bolt - Recording, Charlie Bouis - Recording, Guy Charbonneau - Recording, Arlene Hellerman - Research, Sheri Von Seeburg - Research, Stephanie Carroll - Set Designer, Alene Carroll - Set Designer, Mathew Price - Sound/Sound Designer, Danny Aiello III - Stunts, Jack McLaughlin - Stunts, Jery Hewitt - Stunts, Mike Russo - Stunts, John Copeman - Stunts, Jodi Michelle Pynn - Stunts, Roy Farfel - Stunts, Paul Bucossi - Stunts, Victor Bucossi - Stunts, Jay Carrado - Stunts, Jerry Cetrulo - Stunts, Victor Chan - Stunts, Pete Corby - Stunts, Stracy Diaz - Stunts, Ken Harris - Stunts, Donal Oldaker - Stunts, David Shumbris - Stunts, Amy Yanagisawa - Stunts, Don J. Hewitt - Stunts, Steven Rogers - Stunts, Peter Bucossi - Stunts Coordinator, Dr. Corridino - Technical Advisor, Christopher Goode - Unit Production Manager, Steven Rogers - Screen Story, James Mangold - Screenwriter, Steven Rogers - Screenwriter, Robert Stromberg - Visual Effects Supervisor, Dr. Ken Jones - Visual Effects Supervisor, Julia Rivas - Visual Effects Supervisor, Rick Riche - Matte Artist, Bob Scifo - Matte Artist, Patrick Zentis - Matte Artist, Cara Leibovitz - Unit Publicist, Gene Engels - Gaffer, Dennis Gamiello - Key Grip, Nicky South - Music Editor, Paul Rabjohns - Music Editor, Mark S. Hoerr - Post Production Supervisor, Ellen Gannon - Production Coordinator, Alyson Evans - Production Supervisor, Nicholas Siapkaris - Production Supervisor, Diana E. Burton - Properties Master, Bill W. Benton - Re-Recording Mixer, Jeffrey J. Haboush - Re-Recording Mixer, Sheila Waldron - Script Supervisor, Amy Lauritsen - Second Assistant Director, Conrad V. Brink - Special Effects Coordinator, John Baer - Still Photographer, Howell Gibbens - Supervising Sound Editor, Marilyn McCoppen - ADR Editor, David Boulton - ADR Mixer, Howard London - ADR Mixer, Bob Descaine - ADR Mixer, Peter Gleaves - ADR Mixer, David Weisberg - ADR Mixer, Richard Tedesco - Art Department Assistant, Miguel Lopez Castillo - Assistant Art Director, Mimi Turner - Assistant Location Manager, Kellie Morrison - Assistant Location Manager, Brian Cooper - Assistant Production Coordinator, James Morioka - Assistant Sound Editor, Steven Comesky - Best Boy Electric, James C. Quinn - Best Boy Grip, Neil Orlowski - Camera Loader, Mark Bennett - Casting Associate, Molly Clayton - Casting Associate, Deborah Maxwell Dion - Casting Associate, Thomas Costabile - Construction Coordinator, Larry Kemp - Dialogue Editor, Mike Chock - Dialogue Editor, Elizabeth Kenton - Dialogue Editor, Edward Lowry - Dolly Grip, Mark Ricker - Draftsman, Mario R. Ventenilla - Draftsman, Jodi Shapera Yeager - First Assistant Accountant, Michael McCusker - First Assistant Editor, Vincent Guisetti - Foley Artist, Pamela Nedd Kahn - Foley Artist, Nicholas Hill - Greensman, Mark Selemon - Greensman, Tim Metzger - Leadman, Ana Nasser - Post Production Assistant, Mike Phillips - Production Accountant, Eric Bart - Scenic Artist, Stephen Barth - Scenic Artist, Eva Davy - Scenic Artist, Katy Dilkes - Scenic Artist, James T. Glisson III - Scenic Artist, Michael Green - Scenic Artist, Janet Kalas - Scenic Artist, Beth Solin - Scenic Artist, Patricia Sprott - Scenic Artist, Mimi Wyeth - Second Assistant Accountant, Jennifer Truelove - Second Second Assistant Director, Joann Atwood - Set Dresser, Terri Brennan - Set Dresser, Robert Currie - Set Dresser, Roman Greller - Set Dresser, Joanna Hartell - Set Dresser, Henry Kaplan - Set Dresser, Janine Pesce - Set Dresser, Romano C. Pugliese - Set Dresser, John Roche - Set Dresser, Alex Rubin - Storyboard Artist, Digital Backlot - Visual Effects
Kate & Leopold is a 2001 romantic comedy motion picture that tells a story of a duke who time travels from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with a career woman in the modern New York.
The film is directed by James Mangold and stars Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber. The DVD edition contains two versions of the film: one, the original theatrical release, runs for 118 minutes while the director's cut version runs for 122. One scene in the director's cut shows Ryan's character in a test screening for a new movie and also features a cameo by Mangold.
In 1876, Leopold Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth Thomas Mountbatten, Duke of Albany and future inventor of the elevator, is a stifled dreamer. Strict Uncle Millard (Paxton Whitehead) has no patience for Leopold's disrespect for the monarchy, chastising him and telling him he must marry a rich American, as the Mountbatten family finances are depleted. His uncle has told him that on his "thirtieth birthday he had become a blemish to the family name".
The Duke finds Stuart Besser (Liev Schreiber), an amateur physicist (and descendant of Leopold, according to deleted scenes) perusing his schematic diagrams and taking photographs of them. He had seen him earlier at Roebling's speech about the Brooklyn Bridge. Leopold follows Stuart and tries to save him from what he thinks is a suicide, falling after him into the portal that brought the man there in the first place.
Leopold awakens in 21st century New York. He is at first confused and thinks that he has been kidnapped. Stuart says that he has created formulae to forecast portals in the temporal universe and that Leopold must stay inside his apartment until the portal opens again a week later. As Stuart takes his dog out, he is injured by falling into the elevator shaft, and is eventually institutionalized for speaking about his scientific discovery.
Leopold is intrigued by the cynical and ambitious Kate McKay (Meg Ryan), Stuart's ex-girlfriend, who comes to the apartment for her Palm Pilot stylus. He observes that she is a "career woman" and that her field, market research, is a fine avocation for a woman and states that he once dated a librarian from Sussex. Kate dismisses him and demands that he take Stuart's dog for a walk. Leopold is overwhelmed to see that Roebling's bridge is still standing. Back at the apartment, he befriends Charlie (Breckin Meyer), Kate's brother and an actor between gigs, who believes him to be an actor as well, steadfast to his character.
Kate and Leopold become romantically involved, as they dine and tour New York.
When shooting begins on the commercial in which Leopold has agreed to act, he finds the product disgusting. He cannot understand how Kate would have him endorse a flawed item without qualms, and declares that "when someone is involved in something entirely without merit, one withdraws". Echoing his uncle, Kate says that sometimes one has to do things they don't want to. He chides her about integrity. She retorts, "I don't have time for pious speeches from two hundred year old men who have not worked a day in their life". Their dalliance seems at an end.
Stuart escapes from the mental hospital, and while Kate is accepting her promotion at a company banquet, he and Charlie are racing to meet her. Moments before she goes on stage, they arrive and produce pictures from Stuart's camera that show her in 1876. Stuart says that he had thought he disrupted the spacetime continuum, but actually "the whole thing is a beautiful 4-Dpretzel of kismetic inevitability".
Kate chooses a life with Leopold over her career, and the three of them escape to the Brooklyn Bridge. There, catching the portal before it closes, Kate vanishes into 1876 where Leopold is himself about to announce his bride's name. As he opens his mouth to speak, he sees Kate and announces hers.
In the closing scene, they kiss and the camera is drawn outward showing a wall clock hung depicting 12:15.
