Kate and Leopold 2001
B+
Exactly what you would expect from a Meg Ryan romantic comedy. That’s a good thing because she’s made some of the best ones I’ve seen. The two primary roles are well played: Ryan as a jaded advertising executive and Hugh Jackman as Leopold, a Duke from New York in the 1870’s whose family moved to America so he could marry well and keep the royal family royal. Leopold is dashing, able to make women of 21st century swoon every bit as much as those of the 19th.
It’s funny watching Leopold as he interacts with modern people and appliances (especially the toaster). Cultured in the old style he is an expert at manners, food, horsemanship, and he also has great interest in the arts and technology. In fact we find out that he is the inventor of the elevator and when he is accidently brought into our time that has some interesting side effects (more on that later in the spoiler).
The romance part is handled well as Kate fends off various suitors and only slowly warms up to the Duke. There are a handful of supporting characters who are mostly pretty weak: Kate’s lovelorn actor brother and her scummy boss. But the movie moves along well and is always entertaining.
Hard to knock it for much. Though it’s not great art, it is done well. That garners it a B+.
spoilers
I thought I had the ending all figured out and was a little surprised and disappointed. I knew that a man named Otis (last name) invented the safety elevator ("safety” because it wouldn’t plummet down the elevator shaft even if the line were cut; this advance was one of the factors enabling the development of the skyscraper). The movie says that the Duke designs it and when he comes into the present day, elevators stop working in the absence of their inventor having invented them. Therefore you know that the Duke has to return. But what I thought would happen is that he would go back, tell his manservant Otis about the elevator, and then use what he learned by reading Kate’s ex-boyfriend’s journals to find his way back to present day where he could marry Kate. I didn’t like the idea of Kate going to the past because, honestly, who would want to live back then? She couldn’t even vote and her life expectancy would be dramatically decreased. Alternatively I thought Kate’s ex could go back in time and take the Duke’s place, letting Otis in on the elevator thing. As it was, Otis' involvement in the invention of the elevator was only hinted at and never really explained. Disappointing. I wonder if a re-write made them change it around so that Kate would go back in order to please female audience members who thought that that would be a happier ending?
Okay, I went back and read Ebert’s review after writing this. He said that Leopold is the ancestor of Kate’s ex-boyfriend. I either missed this entirely or it was edited out later. Apparently the ex was afraid he wouldn’t exist if Leopold didn’t go back to sire a family (if the elevators stopped working why didn’t the boyfriend disappear?).