Kate & Leopold (2001)
Rated PG-13
Starring Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer
Directed by James Mangold
The Story:
Stuart (Schreiber) has discovered a wormhole in time and is checking out New York in the 1800s when he is followed back to the present by Leopold (Jackman). A respectable gentleman of the past is suddenly surrounded by the modern society and he has much to learn, yet also has a few things to teach as well. When he falls for the lovely Kate (Ryan), it's a match made for the ages, but how can two people from two different times ever really be together?
This is one of those romantic comedies that has been bashed far too often, for far too long.
This was Meg Ryan at the height of her romantic comedy powers, before someone told her that it would be a good idea to get plastic surgery because she was getting older.
If I had a time machine, I would use it to go back and tell her it's not worth it, bad things are going to happen!
This was also Hugh Jackman before he became... Hugh Jackman!
Not yet the megastar he would become, yet he is so effortlessly charming, any plot holes you may have with a time travel film (and there's always plot holes!) are willingly overlooked just by how sweet this film really is.
Not to be left out Breckin Meyer who gives another great "aw shucks" character that he can do in his sleep, as Kate's brother. He is integral to the plot in both teaching Leopold a few things about the present while also accepting some sage gentlemanly advice from the man he is convinced is the greatest method actor of all time! :)
So if you haven't seen this one in the last 15 years, or managed to somehow miss it completely, both Netflix and Amazon have it streaming.
Considering some of the stinkers that Jackman has had lately (where he was usually the best part of the film), it was nice to revisit a movie at the start of his career where the movie was good and he simply made it that much better. You see a star being born, and it's a pretty cool experience.
Final Grade: B
This is the thing about Hugh Jackman that is often overlooked. No matter the actual quality of the film there will ALWAYS be at least a few minutes of absolute acting gold from Hugh and even more, he effortlessly makes everyone surrounding him better than they would be if he weren't there. It is both a tribute to his talent and his generosity that this is true about all Jackman films.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. He has a quality that makes a bad film tolerable and a good film, great. I look no further than "Real Steel" for that. It was a laughable premise, at best, when I heard about it. Jackman's passion elevated that to one of my favorite films I had seen that year.
DeleteThanks for reading!