Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Slugworth’s a first time spy here at AICN, but I can vouch for the authenticity of this report. He saw what he says he saw. Here’s a peek at the Meg Ryan/Hugh Jackman romantic fantasy KATE & LEOPOLD. This is, as far as I know, our first word on the film and how it’s coming along. Check it out...
Hey, Slugworth here. I cornered another unsuspecting snot nosed brat, this time over at Miramax Films. I convinced the poor kid to let me into the Miramax screening room to see what secrets they were cooking up. But instead of the cinematic equivalant to the everlasting gobstopper, I unfortunately got "Kate and Leopold" starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. In a nutshell, this movie is "When Harry Met Sally" meets "The Visitors" with a little bit of "Cyrano de Bergerac" thrown in.
The film starts off in 1876 New York City, with a dedication ceremony for the Brooklyn Bridge. Leopold, a.k.a. "The Duke of Albany" is there and notices a strange individual with what turns out to be a miniture camera, of course, not indicitive of that era. Later, Leo chases that same individual from a party that is taking place in his house where he is supposed to meet his future bride. The chase winds up on the edge of the newly constructed bridge where Leopold tries to stop the individual from jumping , but instead ends up falling off with him.
The film then jumps (quite abruptly I might add) to modern day New York where Kate is (ironically) in a screening room where she is the head of a focus group study for some lame romantic comedy film (again, very ironic). The next day she discovers that her upstairs neighbor/ex-boyfriend/scientist/the strange individual from the beginning of the movie has someone in his apartment who she's never seen before. Her ex, played by Liev Schrieber, informs her that his theories about the time-space continuum were correct, and that not only did he travel back in time, but an ancestor of his followed him back. We then learn that there are holes in time and space that require a bit of velocity if one wishes to travel through them, hence the jump off the bridge.
From here, the movie turns into a typical "fish out of water" type of story, and not a very interesting one at that. Later on in the film, Kate's brother (played by Breckin Meyer) takes Leo out on the town and indroduces him to a girl he likes. This is where Leo pulls the ol' "Cyrano de Bergerac" routine to help Kate's brother win the heart of the girl. Meanwhile, Kate's company is looking for the right spokesperson for a margerine company. And guess who she thinks would be perfect for the role. That's right, a Duke from the 1870's (ain't that silly?). And as with any Meg Ryan love story, her relationship with the leading man starts off rocky and akward, but by the end the two are madly in love. At the end of the movie, Leopold has to return through the portal to 1876. Through a lttle coaxing from her brother and her ex, Kate evetually follows him back where they meet again at the party where he is announcing who his future bride will be. Well, we can all guess what happens from there.
This movie doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a romance? Is it a comedy? Is it a science-fiction romance with comedy thrown in? I'll tell you what it is: it's booooooring! This is one of those movies with a seemingly good premise, but then it falls flat on it's face. It has some potential in the beginning, but it just can't help itself when it slides into the comfortable realm of a "romantic comedy" (and I use the term comedy loosely). It might work better if it had some more humourus elements to it, but instead it focuses too much on the silly love story. There is one spot in the movie that specifically doesn't work, and practically ruins any suspense for the ending. At the beginning, during the chase through the party, we see Kate yell at Leo as he runs by. Not only would this confuse the audience since she is introduced three minutes later in modern New York, but it gives away the ending by sort of foreshadowing the fact that she travels back to be with him. I think the director was trying to be sly by hiding her face with her hair so we wouldn't know who she is, but it's pretty obvious.
Of course, I have to say that the film is incomplete. There are a couple of F/X shots to be finished, and the temp music needs to be replaced. But besides that, I think the film needs a some work before it is released to the public.
That's all for now
Slugworth
