| Kate & Leopold | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | James Mangold |
| Produced by | Cathy Konrad |
| Written by | Steven Rogers James Mangold |
| Starring | Meg
Ryan Hugh Jackman Liev Schreiber Breckin Meyer Natasha Lyonne |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematography | Stuart Dryburgh |
| Editing by | David Brenner |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 2001 |
| Running time | 119 mins |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
Kate & Leopold is a 2001 romantic comedy motion picture that tells a story of a duke who time travels from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with a career woman in the modern New York.
The film is directed by James Mangold and stars Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber. The DVD edition contains two versions of the film: one, the original theatrical release, runs for 118 minutes while the director's cut version runs for 122. One scene in the director's cut shows Ryan's character in a test screening for a new movie and also features a cameo by Mangold.
This is Spalding Gray's final film.
Contents |
In 1876, Leopold Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth Thomas Mountbatten, Duke of Albany and future inventor of the elevator, is a stifled dreamer. Strict Uncle Millard (Paxton Whitehead) has no patience for Leopold's disrespect for the monarchy, chastising him and telling him he must marry a rich American, as the Mountbatten family finances are depleted. His uncle has told him that on his "thirtieth birthday he had become a blemish to the family name".
The Duke finds Stuart Besser (Liev Schreiber), an amateur physicist (and descendant of Leopold, according to deleted scenes) perusing his schematic diagrams and taking photographs of them. He had seen him earlier at Roebling's speech about the Brooklyn Bridge. Leopold follows Stuart and tries to save him from what he thinks is a suicide, falling after him into the portal that brought the man there in the first place.
Leopold awakens in 21st century New York. He is at first confused and thinks that he has been kidnapped. Stuart says that he has created formulae to forecast portals in the temporal universe and that Leopold must stay inside his apartment until the portal opens again a week later. As Stuart takes his dog out, he is injured by falling into the elevator shaft, and is eventually institutionalized for speaking about his scientific discovery.
Leopold is intrigued by the cynical and ambitious Kate McKay (Meg Ryan), Stuart's ex-girlfriend, who comes to the apartment for her Palm Pilot stylus. He observes that she is a "career woman" and that her field, market research, is a fine avocation for a woman and states that he once dated a librarian from Sussex. Kate dismisses him and demands that he take Stuart's dog for a walk. Leopold is overwhelmed to see that Roebling's bridge is still standing. Back at the apartment, he befriends Charlie (Breckin Meyer), Kate's brother and an actor between gigs, who believes him to be an actor as well, steadfast to his character.
Kate and Leopold become romantically involved, as they dine and tour New York.
When shooting begins on the commercial in which Leopold has agreed to act, he finds the product disgusting. He cannot understand how Kate would have him endorse a flawed item without qualms, and declares that "when someone is involved in something entirely without merit, one withdraws". Echoing his uncle, Kate says that sometimes one has to do things they don't want to. He chides her about integrity. She retorts, "I don't have time for pious speeches from two hundred year old men who have not worked a day in their life". Their dalliance seems at an end.
Stuart escapes from the mental hospital, and while Kate is accepting her promotion at a company banquet, he and Charlie are racing to meet her. Moments before she goes on stage, they arrive and produce pictures from Stuart's camera that show her in 1876. Stuart says that he had thought he disrupted the spacetime continuum, but actually "the whole thing is a beautiful 4-D pretzel of kismetic inevitability".
Kate chooses a life with Leopold over her career, and the three of them escape to the Brooklyn Bridge. There, catching the portal before it closes, Kate vanishes into 1876 where Leopold is himself about to announce his bride's name. As he opens his mouth to speak, he sees Kate and announces hers.
In the closing scene, they kiss and the camera is drawn outward showing a wall clock hung depicting 12:15.
The movie script takes liberties with some famous events of the late 19th century. Some of the anachronisms: Leopold humiliates Kate's braggart boss by exposing his ignorance of the plot of La Bohème, which was first performed in 1896. Leopold tells the story of The Pirates of Penzance, and says he saw the world premier, which was in 1879, plus he gets the story wrong. Leopold also refers to Thomas Edison and the light bulb, which though it was many years in development, was not debuted to the public to the public until December 1879.
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Kate and Leopold is a movie released in 2002, with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman acting in it. The movie is directed by James Mangold, written by Steven Rogers (story) and James Mangold himself (screenplay).
[while at dinner, JJ has been quoting Boheme to Kate. As Leopold leaves, he decides to correct JJ's errors] Leopold: By the way. There is no "Andre" in Boheme. It's Rodolfo. And though it takes place in France, it is rarely played in French as it is written in Italian. Goodnight, Kate. [he leaves. Charlie grins at JJ and Kate and then follows]
   | ''Kate & Leopold'' - DVD Review: Kate and Leopold |
| | Internet Movie Database entry - Kate & Leopold (2001) |
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