Stuart Besser (Liev Schrieber) discovers a time warp hole off the bridge leading him back to 1876 New York City. It is there that Stuart's grandfather, Leopold (Hugh Jackman) becomes befuddled by Stuart's odd behavior & tiny camera. Leopold's curiosity overcomes him and pursues Stuart and accidentally falls through the gap with the stranger. Leopold soon meets Kate. First released in December 2001, many people where still in shock over the 9/11 incident and probably caught the film or didn't. In any case, the comedic elements of the plot and the actors make it for an interesting mix of entertainment not experimented with in such a way previously. Interestingly, when I first read a very early blurb about this film it said that Leopold was from 200 years in the past, which would have put him in about the Regency era. In the film's original edit, Stuart was Leopold's descendant, which was Stuart's reason for specifically tracking him down. Criticism that this plot line also meant that Kate was Stuart's ancestor lead to those scenes being cut. In the Director's Cut version, however, this plot line is followed. The 200 years would have also pushed the incest concern back another three or four generations. It would also have explained his Regency style getup. The folks who were doing the counting on this incest thing would have to have at least admitted that at 6 or 7 generations removed, Kate & Stuart would have only shared something like 1/138th blood. That's a bit less than the 1/4 it would be for second cousins marrying, etc. If you keep it at 100 or so years separation, it would still be around 1/16th shared blood. But even that kind of thinking means we're getting away from fantasy. Many pieces of trivia about this film include the fact that Hugh Jackman took etiquette lessons from 19-century etiquette expert Jane Gibson who trained actors for such projects as Sense & Sensibility (1995). He also studied ballroom dancing & trained to ride a horse for the film. Also, when Leopold is chasing Stuart down the stairs and out of his 19th Century house, Stuart seems to jump a few meters in a second. In the Director's Cut version, the two guys actually bump into Kate there. According to the commentary, several of the film's actual crew members appear in the crew of the margarine commercial. The violin piece being performed during Kate and Leopold's rooftop dinner is Jascha Heifetz's transcription of Leopold Godowsky's "Alt-Wien", or "Old Vienna". Godowsky subtitled his work, originally written for solo piano, "Whose yesterdays look backward with a smile through tears". In Stuart's apartment we see a framed poster depicting the 1969 World Champion New York Mets. When Leopold wakes up in Stuart's apartment for the first time, he accidentally turns on the TV and an episode of "The Prisoner" (1967) is on. When Meg Ryan knew that Hugh Jackman was going to spend his wedding anniversary alone, she phoned his wife to invite her to dinner. Reportedly, Jackman had to spend the day working. Hugh Jackman & Liev Schreiber would later co-star as mortal enemies Wolverine and Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). Sandra Bullock was originally in contention for the part of Kate. In an early version of the screenplay, Leopold is accidentally transported through time in an actual time machine developed by a group of scientists that includes Kate. They have a child (of whom Leopold is unaware) and eventually reunite during the Roaring '20s.Read full review
Hugh Jackman is believable, and Meg Ryan reprises yet another hopelessly romantic role. She is cute and creates the image of a person ready for romance but incapable of finding it on her own until it falls into her lap. There are many inconsistencies, though, and a person with the slightest critical eye will be astounded that Jackman's character adapts to readily and without even much confusion, to his new, extraordinary surroundings. He sees cars whizzing by and hardly bats an eye, but finds a broken down old horse (pulling a carriage for sightseers), unhitches it and rides it expertly through the park to catch a purse snatcher. He invents a mechanism to make perfect toast using a fork and an egg timer, and he acts in a TV commercial until he actually tastes the margarine he is supposed to be promoting. It is just unbelievable, but that's not the point. The point is that a charming man and a witless woman can fall in love and all the obstacles will disappear. There is no nudity or profanity involved in this squeaky-clean movie, which is either a plus or a minus, depending on your viewpoint. It is good, mindless fun, not to be taken even a little bit seriously. If that's what you crave, this will be your cup of tea. If you have a critical or analytic eye, this will seriously disappoint you. It is not a time travel movie exactly, but a romantic episode with time travel as the conceit by which the romance is able to proceed.Read full review
Very appealing love story about a New York City career woman and marketing executive, Kate (Meg Ryan), who reluctantly befriends a strangely chivalrous gentleman named Leopold. Her ex-boyfriend and upstairs neighbor Liev Schreiber, is a science nut who has been searching for a seam in time. Convinced that if he can find this "seam", he will be able to successfully travel into different times. In just such a manner he has found the "time portal" and just the previous night traveled back to 1876. Quite by accident, Leopold saw him and followed him back to 2001! To make matters even worse, Leopold is understandably kind of freaking out by what he is seeing. He has convinced Leopold that he can't get him back for one week, when the portal will open again, but in the mean time, he must stay out of sight, or serious time distortion could occur. Telling Leopold no to go anywhere, he goes to walk his dog, but falls down an elevator shaft and breaks his leg. None of the elevators don't work because of time distortion, they weren't invented yet! Now Leopold is all alone. Kate's brother is an aspiring actor and is good friends with her old boyfriend. He goes up and finds Leopold. Nobody knows that he is from 1876. He is so proper and regal, forthright and honest. At first irritated by Leopold, Kate soon grows close to him and begins falling in love. Nobody will believe that he is from 1876, just a good actor in character. Kate has him do a commercial for her company and he is elegant and regal. Everyone is impressed. At the same time, her old boyfriend is in the hospital and they think he is nuts when he tells them about his time portal. Leopold is in love with her and she doesn't know that he has to return. Her ex gets out of the hospital just in time to get him back to 1876. When she gets home from work she is looking for Leopold, but her brother and her ex tell her he is gone. Schreiber had taken a roll of pictures while in 1876, and asked Kate to have them developed for him while he was in the hospital. Her brother picked them up and when they looked at them, they saw Kate in the pictures too. All they could figure was that she was supposed to go back in time with Leopold. Rushing to get through the time portal Kate is sent back to be Leopolds bride in 1876. This was a cute movie.Read full review
This will be entirely about Kate and Leopold, but please note who I bought this from 👍. I love this movie and like to see it from time to time, so I bought it for my library . This combines a savvy present day business woman, and a time- traveling gentleman from the past. Leopold is Hugh Jackman, and that was the plus that had me watching this in the first place.😁 He didn't intend to, or begin to fathom, his travel to the future. An ex of Kate's (Meg Ryan is responsible. Chaos and hilarity ensues. I'm trying not to give the plot away, but it is at first about Leo trying to figure out modern day New York. We discover that he is the inventor of several necessary things in the past. He is of noble birth, and his near- penniless relatives don't see the value of his endeavors and just want to see him married to a rich woman with a great dowry. Kate is great at her job, and we see her trying to make nice with a boss bordering on too friendly. It is not just a romance, but a great one. Lots of humor and other emotions. I think you'll love it.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Pretty entertaining fantasy, Good cast, good humor. Story revolves around a man who discovered a window to the past. When he visits his ancestor follows him back home with some pretty funny results.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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