A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Kate & Leopold

Date Viewed: 12/26/01

Details:

Meg Ryan

Hugh Jackman

Liev Schreiber

Breckin Meyer

Bradley Whitford

Philip Bosco

Director: James Mangold

Score: 3/4

The Review: Entertaining (albeit fluffy) romantic comedy with a time-travel theme, a concept whose time has come, time and again (sorry!) -- as with Malcolm McDowell in Time after Time, or Christopher Reeve in Somewhere in Time. The place is New York City. Kate (Ryan) is an early 21st-century career woman confronted by a late 19th-century duke who has been abruptly, and accidentally, shaken from his time. Much of the amusement comes from recurring episodes of inevitable (time-disjoint) culture clash. In these latter situations the similarity to Time after Time becomes overpowering.

A few fractions are docked for adhering to formula, but, as with any Meg Ryan vehicle, formula clearly works. The time portal idea is clever -- requiring merely a theory about "cracks in time," extensive computation to predict venue, and the force of gravity, but no special gadgets. As such, it lends an air of simplicity and credibility, and suspension of disbelief is easy.

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