I'm from 1876
and no I'm not mad.
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Kate and
Leopold tries to add an extra twist to this over used romanatic
comedy formula.
Neil Heath
But does it
work? The answer to that is, not really. The first hour is fairly
enjoyable, but it then peters out to be nothing more than an average
romantic comedy.
The Plot
New York scientist Stuart (Schreiber), discovers a time portal by
diving off the Brooklyn Bridge.
Yes, it sounds bizarre, but they actually make it sound semi-believable
- needless to say, there's no portals in the Trent, just fish and
old bikes.
The time portal
takes him to 1876, just as the Brooklyn Bridge is about to be opened.
Unfortunately, after taking pictures, Stuart is followed by a suspicious
English duke, Leopold (Jackman).
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| Hugh Jackman's
demonstrates his prowess with the horse and the ladies. |
Leopold awakes
in modern day New York and conveniently bumps into Stuart's estranged
girlfriend, Kate (Ryan).
Seduced by each others charms, the usual 'will they, won't they
get together' formula is played out.
The Review
Meg Ryan is synonymous with romantic comedies.
But Jackman?
After serious roles in X-Men and Swordish, Jackman shows us his
sensitive side.
He is actually
quite good, the comedy comes from him adjusting to life in 2001.
Personally I feel, if you were jettisoned into the future you'd
instantly crack up, but a mad time traveller isn't an ingredient
in a rom-com.
Kate and Leopold is an attempt to make this tired genre a bit more
interesting, and it succeeds to an extent. The plot inaccuracies
aside, it is fairly amusing.
One example is when Leopold is exploring the city. He's amazed that
the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing, he tells a man that it's
a scientific wonder, the man replies, 'it's a bridge'.
Gags aside, even though they've used a touch of sci-fi in the plot,
there's nothing here that is different from any other romantic comedy.
It's an exhausted formula, one that should be re-invented.
They
also leave questions unanswered for the intelligent audience.
For example Leopold invents the elevator in the C19th, in the C21st
the lifts go faulty because Leopold never got around to building
it.
Now, put your scientific head on, if the elevator was never invented,
then the world would be totally different - we'd have a lot of stairs
to climb for a start.
Kate and Leopold is a fairly amusing tale, but if you do go, leave
your brain at home, because it'll probably ruin it for you.
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