I can understand why people would be put off by a movie like Kate & Leopold, even if only because it's a little TOO cute. Consider, for example, the scene early in the film, just after Stuart (Liev Schreiber) has accidentally brought Leopold (in a wonderful performance by Hugh Jackman) to the present day, and Kate (Meg Ryan) sticks her head in the window to see what's going on. When Meg Ryan is kneeling down and looking in the window in this scene, she is probably more adorable than I've ever seen her in any other movie, and she is without a doubt one of the most adorable actors working in Hollywood today.
(spoilers) I can see that some people might be put off just by the sheer cuteness of things like this (of which the movie is full to the brim), as well as other things like the cheesiness of the conflict resolution, in which Kate literally takes a leap of faith off of the Brooklyn Bridge, with her ex-boyfriend as well as her brother urging her on even though each is fully aware that this will mean they will never see her again.
For my own part, I think that minor quibbles like these are easy to overlook just because of the sheer entertainment value of the movie and the fact that the time travel element (something that almost never fails to enthrall me) is so intriguing and well done. I love the part at the end when they see Kate in one of the pictures that Stuart took in 1873, meaning that the resolution includes her being sent back to that time to be with Leopold. Stuart tries in vain to explain this to Charlie (Breckin Meyer), Kate's younger brother, telling him that since in THEIR future they send Kate back to the past, then the future of that past includes Kate being their and searching for Leopold. Well, I can't really explain it any better than Stuart did.
There was one other thing about the time travel element that I thought was really interesting but wasn't explored as well as it could have been. There is a part of the movie where Leopold discovers, to all sorts of astonished amazement, that his uncle's house (his own residence in 1873) still stands even in the futuristic New York in which he finds himself. This is also, by the way, the point where Kate begins to realize that this whole thing might not be an act after all. Leopold runs upstairs and finds a secret hiding place where he kept all of his most treasured possessions, which still remain as dusty relics.
Something like this is usually a signpost that it is going to come back into play at some later point in the film, but I guess here it is only meant to show Kate that Leopold is for real after all. Later in the film, when Leopold is sent back to his own time, I was expecting Kate to run up to that room in his house and open the cupboard and find some sort of note or something that Leopold left for her to find there, but no such luck. Ah well.
As a romantic comedy, Kate & Leopold certainly has its shortcomings given it's conveniently packaged ending, the fact that so many things are ignored just to get to that happy ending (such as how Charlie's date REALLY went and what ever happened with him and his acting career and his love life, etc, and the same goes for Stuart), but as a film it is enormously entertaining, well-written, and thought-provoking, which is exceedingly uncommon for a romantic comedy. While it's true that the movie takes place mainly in society that can produce digital cameras the size of matchboxes but can't get toasters to work properly, this is the kind of movie that spawns discussion, which is what great movies do.
If nothing else, it is most certainly an in-depth look at the descent of chauvinism between the 19th Century and today, and provides a host of immensely valuable lessons for how men should act around women. I would certainly like to see a lot of these behaviors return to our modern society, so that we can remember that life is not composed solely of tasks, but tastes as well. Kate & Leopold holds that rare distinction of being a romantic comedy that is more beneficial for men than women.
Pay attention to this one, guys.
(spoilers) I can see that some people might be put off just by the sheer cuteness of things like this (of which the movie is full to the brim), as well as other things like the cheesiness of the conflict resolution, in which Kate literally takes a leap of faith off of the Brooklyn Bridge, with her ex-boyfriend as well as her brother urging her on even though each is fully aware that this will mean they will never see her again.
For my own part, I think that minor quibbles like these are easy to overlook just because of the sheer entertainment value of the movie and the fact that the time travel element (something that almost never fails to enthrall me) is so intriguing and well done. I love the part at the end when they see Kate in one of the pictures that Stuart took in 1873, meaning that the resolution includes her being sent back to that time to be with Leopold. Stuart tries in vain to explain this to Charlie (Breckin Meyer), Kate's younger brother, telling him that since in THEIR future they send Kate back to the past, then the future of that past includes Kate being their and searching for Leopold. Well, I can't really explain it any better than Stuart did.
There was one other thing about the time travel element that I thought was really interesting but wasn't explored as well as it could have been. There is a part of the movie where Leopold discovers, to all sorts of astonished amazement, that his uncle's house (his own residence in 1873) still stands even in the futuristic New York in which he finds himself. This is also, by the way, the point where Kate begins to realize that this whole thing might not be an act after all. Leopold runs upstairs and finds a secret hiding place where he kept all of his most treasured possessions, which still remain as dusty relics.
Something like this is usually a signpost that it is going to come back into play at some later point in the film, but I guess here it is only meant to show Kate that Leopold is for real after all. Later in the film, when Leopold is sent back to his own time, I was expecting Kate to run up to that room in his house and open the cupboard and find some sort of note or something that Leopold left for her to find there, but no such luck. Ah well.
As a romantic comedy, Kate & Leopold certainly has its shortcomings given it's conveniently packaged ending, the fact that so many things are ignored just to get to that happy ending (such as how Charlie's date REALLY went and what ever happened with him and his acting career and his love life, etc, and the same goes for Stuart), but as a film it is enormously entertaining, well-written, and thought-provoking, which is exceedingly uncommon for a romantic comedy. While it's true that the movie takes place mainly in society that can produce digital cameras the size of matchboxes but can't get toasters to work properly, this is the kind of movie that spawns discussion, which is what great movies do.
If nothing else, it is most certainly an in-depth look at the descent of chauvinism between the 19th Century and today, and provides a host of immensely valuable lessons for how men should act around women. I would certainly like to see a lot of these behaviors return to our modern society, so that we can remember that life is not composed solely of tasks, but tastes as well. Kate & Leopold holds that rare distinction of being a romantic comedy that is more beneficial for men than women.
Pay attention to this one, guys.