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Kate & Leopold
DVD Review by Jack |
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In 1876, Leopold the Duke of Albany was a bachelor with few prospects. In 2001, Kate McKay has a successful career and no life. We see Leopold in his castle circa late 1800’s after examining the condition of a recently designed and partially constructed Brooklyn Bridge. Leopold it would seem has invented an elevator that will take people to the top of the bridge. We are part of a party that is thrown for Leopold and we find him dancing with numerous young ladies all the while preparing himself for his impending marriage to an as yet undetermined female. I guess forced marriages were in the norm back then. He is told that since his family does not have the money everyone things they do…he must marry a rich girl and nothing less. Doubtless he is not happy given his choices of rich girls. But pick he must. We see many people in the great halls of this mansion, however one of them Stuart, seems out of place while apparently rifling though Leopold’s things and taking…Pictures? You see Stuart if from the future where cameras are an everyday thing. Being a curious inventor type himself, Leopold follows Stuart and after a somewhat lengthy chase through all manner of peril finds himself in the year 2001. There is some premise presented by Stuart, that the Brooklyn bridge is really a portal to time travel in both forward and reverse directions. My advise to all that watch this movie is to not dwell too strongly on this part of the story, trust me. Kate is kind of going out with Stuart and yet she isn’t. He is a klutz of the first order and an inventor of an even higher order. You see, he studies tears in time…doesn’t everybody ? Kate is quite likeable but she does not have the best luck with men, naturally and after kicking out Stuart, allows her brother to move in with her. Now this guy is a character for sure and he likes to give advise. I like him. Kate’s best friend Darci is full of good advise if only someone would take it. Anyway, there are great scenes in and around New York wherein Leopold clashes with general stuff in the year 2001. He is sweet and takes everything with such charm that he is hard not to like. A particularly memorable scene involves walking Stuarts dog and getting busted by the police. Stuart has a little, shall we say accident, and is more or less conveniently out of the picture until needed. Stuarts adversary in the regional Kate for girlfriend cook off is Leopold. He is Strong, Brave and quite chivalrous. Again like any man thrust 100 years ahead of time in the gold old USA. Kate is in the business of market research and ultimately enlists Leopold to do commercials for some rather tasteless products. He balks and she gets angry and the whole situation takes a turn for the worse. Bunches of good gags, none of them really new approach us and will on occasion arouse a good belly laugh. This is a fun but silly movie that forces one to ignore reality most of the time. I mean lets face it, how many people would jump off the Brooklyn Bridge because their ex boyfriend tells them it will transport the jumper back in time and thus propel them into the waiting arms of the long lost lover. Not I. I do remember being told to jump off a bridge but for quite different reasons. While bordering on the chick flick status this is still a fun movie for most people. Being the cynic I am, I even enjoyed it a good bit. Not too much mind you but just the right amount. There are many nice people in this movie and no one really around to hate. No real bad guys here. That is unusual to be sure. Ok well maybe the guy that tries to force Leopold into marrying the rich girl, he is kind of bad. The extras here include 2 versions of the movie, the Theatrical Cut and the Directors Cut.There is also a directors commentary and some deleted scenes as well as a Sting Music Video. Alas there is no DTS soundtrack only Dolby Digital although, after hearting the Dolby version I see that there will not be much help in having another soundtrack. The sound was fine, nothing too exciting although I will say that the dialogue was quite well rendered and understandable. Good Show. Frankly this is a dialogue driven movie so that makes everything quite acceptable. Visually, the picture was fine as well in that the colors were solid but a bit muted. Many of the outdoor scenes could have been sharper and the costumes did not always stand out as I would expect them to based upon similar period piece type movies. Overall I liked this movie, it is solid light hearted fun and should be offensive to no one. The typical Hollywood ending is definitely in full force here, but again, I enjoy that kind of entertainment at the end of a day where the news is coming at you all day is generally negative. I would recommend that you rent if first that way you wont want to jump off a bridge because you spent too much money on this DVD. Video: 3.5 out of 5 stars Audio: 3.5 out of 5 stars Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars Overall Movie rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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Kate & Leopold Staring: Kate: Meg Ryan Directed and Written By: James Mangold. Running time: 118 Min Bonus Materials
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