'Kate and Leopold' Return to Romantic Screwball Comedy

Author: Padma Govindan

"Kate and Leopold," a sweet romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, owes its slender charm to its complete lack of connection to reality. This film makes no bones about being anything other than a fairy tale (albeit with a science fiction twist), and thus makes what might have been an insufferable romantic comedy into a tender and sweetly diverting movie.

Kate (Ryan) is a high-powered marketing executive who epitomizes 'the modern woman': tough, business-like and without time for romance. She lives in a Manhattan apartment above her wacky ex-boyfriend Stuart (Liev Schreiber). Stuart unbeknownst to Kate, has discovered a time portal that can be accessed at certain times by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. The beginning of the film finds Stuart in 1876, in hot pursuit of Leopold, the third Duke of Albany. Leopold (Jackman), is aristocratic, handsome, educated (as he is credited with inventing the elevator) and has extensive knowledge of etiquette, manners and chivalry. He is also, unfortunately, in dire need of money, and is about to announce his engagement to a wealthy but unattractive American heiress when Stuart shows up on the scene. When Leopold sees the suspicious-looking Stuart lurking about, he chases him back to the bridge where the two of them fall through the time portal and into present-day Manhattan.

It is fairly obvious from the beginning that as soon as they meet, Kate and Leopold will fall deeply in love (hence the title). In the meantime, there is some snappy dialogue between the two that is reminiscent of a 1940s screwball comedy. For example, when Kate starts explaining her job to Leopold, he interrupts with smug self-satisfaction: "So you are a career woman, are you? Well, that's very well. I once courted a librarian from Saratoga, you know." Similarly, Kate retorts to one of his speeches that she doesn't have time for "200-year-old men who never had to work a day in their life." The confusions of time travel also provide some fodder for comedy. One of the funnier moments occurs when Leopold receives a municipal injunction for not only not using, but actually refusing to use a pooper-scooper when walking Stuart's dog.

Of course, part of the charm of "Kate and Leopold" is Jackman's role as the ultimate gentleman. He stands up when a lady leaves the table, calls dating "courting," and in one of the film's more dramatic scenes, saves Kate's purse from a being snatched by charging the mugger on one of the carriage horses from Central Park (a white horse, of course). When Kate and Leopold are better acquainted, she convinces him to be in a commercial for fat-free butter substitute. Here again, Leopold proves his integrity by refusing to go through with it after tasting the product and pronouncing "pond scum." He is the best fantasy of a true gentleman, so wonderful that he couldn't possibly be of this world or time.

Again, the film bears only the thinnest veneer of realism. There are, in fact, some factual errors in the script — Leopold shows off his knowledge of the opera "La Boheme," when the opera was actually written 1896, 20 after Leopold's time.

But that is not much to quibble about. Jackman lends a great deal of humor and grace to the part of Leopold, making him charming and endearing, instead of a buffoon. And Ryan fits Kate's nervousness and brusqueness quite well, melting easily into sweetness as Leopold wins her heart. "Kate and Leopold" is as substantial as cotton candy — but just as enjoyable.