I saw Kate and Leopold, for the first time, this week on HBO.
I’ve always been a huge Meg Ryan fan, but for some reason I didn’t want to see this one in the theater. Now I know why. It really sucks.[list=1][li]A Lack of Chemistry. Where was the chemistry between Kate and Leopold? There are a few tiny moments, but most of the time I had a difficult job of suspending my disbelief.[/li][li]Unnatural Conversations. At one point she talks about her mother watching Charles and Diana getting hitched and said, “It was like the Superbowl, but for moms.” The whole speech smacked of something Leopold wouldn’t understand. I kept waiting for him to say, What’s a Superbowl? There are other conversations with references to modern items and Leopold doesn’t even bat an eye.[/li][li]Shaky Moral Ground. When he wanted to stop shilling for the margarine that tasted like crap, Kate’s argument was hollow. “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to…” (not an exact quote) Give me a break! Saying something tastes just like creamery butter when it really tastes like saddle soap is a lie. I found it hard to believe that Leopold would just back down. Annoying.[/li][li]Sudden Breakup. Why did Kate break up with Leopold? He did what she asked and completed the commercial…[/li][li]Creepy Ex-Boyfriend. How did he convince the nurse that he wasn’t crazy? There’s no background… she just suddenly starts crying and lets him leave the hospital.[/li][li]Creepy Boss. Why did she apologize to him? He’s the one who came on to her and seemed to imply that physical affection was her way to a promotion.[/li][li]Quick Departure. She could break up with him so quickly and then turn right around and decide to go all the way back to the 1800s? She says she’s been working all her life and needs a break. So she goes back in time to marry a guy with no money.[/li][li]Elevators. All of the elevators all over the world disappear, but it’s no biggie.[/li][/list=1]Looking back at my list I guess I can summarize it as being full of plot holes and weak characters. It seems like the director may have had some other scenes that developed things but couldn’t keep them in the movie due to time constraints…
Wow - took me a while to even remember that I had seen this exceedingly forgettable flick.
My fave element was that Leo had never invented the elevator, but buildings nevertheless were constructed with elevator shafts.
Sorry I can’t help on any of your other questions. Oh yeah - the deleted scenes emphasized the importance of Leo’s manservant - Otis, which I had completely missed in the movie.
Gawd, the amount of dreck that must be lurking back in the grey matter!
I kind of enjoyed the movie, but yes, now that you point out those factors, it does make it rather weak. Guess I had my brain turned off when I was watching it. Although the elevator thing did cross my mind…
Yeah, it was pretty bad. Here’s businesslike Kate, she who was so immersed in her own life to see the things that might have convinced her that Leo wasn’t just another modern-era guy, suddenly deciding on a whim and a dime to throw over her professional career to go back and time and be with Leopold (as a housewife??). The movie had a few good moments (like her getting the promotion even though she wouldn’t sleep with sleazy boss-person – nice to see a plotline that isn’t just Primary Color Schemes) but they are interspersed with very silly behaviors, insultingly banal plot tangents, and credibility gaps.
The only redeeming thing about this movie was that it did convey a very profound truth about life – that it’s very hard to get the toaster to make your toast exactly right. I did enjoy that part.
I also absolutely loved the scenes at the beginning with the creepy ex-boyfriend’s dog and the baby gate. First he grabs it with his teeth and pulls it down, then he scootches beneath it… What a smart doggie!
Dog/Rainbow Story. Cheese-o-rama! “I’m just a dog who sees a rainbow,” says creepy ex-boyfriend. I really like the analogy, but he delivered it so melodramatically!
I was planning to walk out on this movie, but then I realized I was on an airplane.
I believe the ending had to be reshot because test audiences hated it. Originally, Kate and Leopold broke up because they discovered that they were related or something like that in the past.
I saw K&L at a free preview a few weeks before it was released. In the version we saw, Liev Schreiber’s character was supposed to be a descendant of Hugh Jackman’s character, his great-great-grandson or something. Of course, this means that when Meg Ryan marries HJ in the end, she becomes her ex-boyfriend’s great-great-grandmother. Ewwwwwww.
A bunch of critics commented on the incest angle as soon as they saw the film (again, a few weeks before its release) and the studio quickly recut the film to delete all references to LS’s character being related to HJ’s. Because otherwise, ewwwww.
They weren’t test audiences, they were critics and sneak preview audiences watching the “final cut”, literally 2 or 3 weeks (maybe less, I don’t recall exactly) before the film’s release date. And they didn’t break up in the movie, they just failed to notice the incest thing.
Hmm? I really liked this film. Sure it has inconsistencies and such but there’s just something about it that appeals to me. The only part that bugs me is that although Leo went forward in time before he popularized his invention of the elevator (he had invented it, remember him talking to Otis?) but everyone’s still aware of what elevators are and buildings are built with the shafts.
Anyway. I’ve noticed I tend to really like movies others hate. Mebbe I should stop opening the threads in Cafe Society then? Hehe.
Okay. We’re talking about a movie…okay?..that’s about this guy…okay?..who TRAVELS ONE HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FUTURE BY JUMPING OFF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE INTO AN INTER-DIMENSIONAL TIME VORTEX.
It’s probably best not to sweat the niggling details.
I didn’t hate it or anything, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite movie. And the “no chemistry” thing—yeah, I have to go along with that.
Have any of you seen the “Director’s Cut” on the DVD? I’d never seen the film before, but saw that version right off when I rented the DVD. Interesting viewing experience. And the “deleted” scenes (one which mentions the incest angle) were interesting too.
One of the funniest (IMO) scenes in the “Director’s Cut” was the reference made about Leopold being in town for the MacWorld convention. (I believe this is a story that the old boyfriend concocts in order to explain Leopold’s appearance.) Kate then asks about (if memory serves) “OS 9.6” and the “G5” computers. Which I couldn’t figure out—was she trying to “trip up” the old boyfriend with bogus Mac references, or did these things actually exist in the film’s “universe”? Because Mac OS 9.6 will never exist (they stopped at OS 9.2.2, I think, and then went to OS X) and the G5s have yet to come out. So what’s up with that?
I don’t consider any of my comments to be niggling details. K&L has the kind of story I would normally love. I LOVED Somewhere in Time. But there were so many things wrong with the characters and plot, that I hated it. That’s what this thread is about.
