Be sure to buy the disc with the Director's Cut. All the best bits are there that help to tell the story. Key to the story is Leopold is Stuart's great, great, great grandfather. That was removed from the theater version because some critics felt it the suggestion of incest (how do you sleep with your great, great, great anything?) for the audience, but the story is much better knowing it. It fills in blanks--like knowing all four of the main characters are related. Also in the front of the film that is removed from the theater version is a scene with Kate and her assistant in the car returning from a test screening of a love film. Meg Ryan is so witty and droll. It is lost in the theater version. So buy the disc --and the region free player if necessary. (Region free players are a gift from heaven.)

James Mangold in his director's comments section offers more insights. For him it was almost a study in what makes a man, manly. What is a gentleman? A question that has been asked for hundreds of years and is timely today. What have we lost in kindness, thoughtfulness, and respect for one another? Big questions even moreso today.

In the Bonus material Ryan says Jackman is perfect for the role (he was relatively new at this time, 2000) he is so dignified and manly. Even Natasha Lyonne remarked that she was won over by him (not only the character)--and she's not romantically inclined. In costume, with a trained Queen's English accent, a fine sense of humor and that dignity, he played the part to perfection.

Hugh Jackman steals the show (such a lovely man in this role). Meg Ryan has moments in the film where she seems to be experiencing some genuine feelings (she was going through her divorce at this time) but she's always a fun, witty, character. "Stuart" -Liev Schreiber, and "Charlie" Brecklin Meyer, offer that lift from any melodrama all flavored with a joyful fantasy that is time travel. I love the film and it bears close watching. Mangold frames it as a "Doris Day" type movie but it is more than that too. Remember to look for the disc with the Director's Cut. This one did.

This is not a review of the movie (altogether a terrific movie - ESPECIALLY the science side which is frequently overlooked) ... Instead this is about the fact that this page is linked to the INTERNATIONAL VERSION which is a nice way of saying EVERYBODY BUT THE AMERICANS. If you look at the cover and it has a "circled 12", or anything like it, on there - IT WILL NOT PLAY. (This one has two circle 12's: the British BFC and the Irish FCO.) I have a PC that can convert most anything, but even THIS proved to be locked down too tightly. (Tech speak: the coding in the bluray that verifies location is not a machine specific code but rather an actual location specific coding. Either you spoof your location or...) So IF you live in the USA or IF you are using a bluray player (disk player, PC, XBOX, PS4) that is USA specific, this disk WILL NOT PLAY FOR YOU.

Leopold time travels forward from the 1800s and meets advertising executive Kate who Is a modern city girl through and through. Yes this is a romantic comedy so all the stereotypical romance of the sweet man breaking down the guard of a smart, fast talking woman are ever present.

I gives this 5 stars for two Main reasons. First is that Hugh Jackman plays his role with a great balance of manliness meets sweet guy. The other reason this movie is particularly good as a romantic comedy is that it is man approved. Over the years, I’ve watched this movie with several men that I’ve been in relationships with and all of them have given this a thumbs up.

So if you’re looking for a romcom that you can both like this is one I would recommend.

I had just rewatched When Harry Met Sally and Meg Ryan is so cute in that film, plus what's not to like about Hugh Jackman, so thought I would watch this. Meg Ryan looks like she started to have some work done on her face and for most of the film, like she is smelling something bad. Her character is just not very likable and therefore I did not find the romance plausible at all. Hugh is great and the brother as well. It's just ok..

I liked this one of my favorite themes of romance between modern society and the elegant aspect of the past when I first heard about this film I expected maybe a little more scientific approach for the time travel theory but that part happens quickly without much focus other than changes inside culture like daily routines of people and how they interact is much more casual. Yet I still enjoyed to see it for a break in the usual raunchy or crude intimacy in most recent films maybe for younger people to see? Could be but still just good for a relaxing afternoon.

Lest you hold that old-fashioned romance is dead and gone, here comes a quality movie to flick your earlobe reprovingly and to gainsay that belief. 2001's KATE & LEOPOLD stars Hugh Jackman at his elegant, charming best and Meg Ryan, appealing as ever and very much in her wheelhouse. And while not quite as classic as Meg's SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE or WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... this torn-out-of-time, fish-out-of-water romantic comedy sparkles with humor, appealing characters, and, yup, romance.

Hugh Jackman plays the robust fictional Leopold, third duke of Albany (as opposed to the sickly real-life Leopold, duke of Albany). In Jackman's hands Leopold isn't some fancy pants twit but rather a suave, well-mannered and stand-up guy. It's April 28, 1876 and Leopold has brought his destitute but noble pedigree to New York, his uncle insisting that he find some rich American heiress to marry. We learn early on that Leo is not only an engineering inventor of sorts but that he's also discontented with his royal lot in life.

Meanwhile, in modern-day New York, Kate (Meg Ryan) on the surface is a successful career woman, doing big things in market research. But her personal life is a mess, Kate having just a month ago broken up with her longtime boyfriend Stuart (Liev Schreiber), a scientific louse obsessed solely with time portals. And who happens to be the great-great grandson of Leopold the third duke of Albany. Past and present get Kevin Baconed when Stuart discovers and uses a time portal to the past, just off the Brooklyn Bridge, and returns with an ancestral passenger accidentally in tow.

Kate and Leopold meet, and it's not pretty, what with the jaded, heartbroken Kate finding Leo in her ex-boyfriend's crib. Then there's how Leo is dressed like Sergeant Pepper. But this is Meg Ryan, whose mutant power is to embody the wistful, starry-eyed heroine in these things, so slowly Leo begins to have an effect. To ratchet the suspense, elevators all over the city begin to malfunction, this being a side effect of Leopold not being in his own time. It makes sense once you realize that in his rightful era, Leopold - who, remember, is an engineer - would go on to invent the lift. And if Leo were not to return to his rightful era, well, cue in the scary repercussions...

Hugh Jackman owns this movie even more so than Meg Ryan. Those who've seen him take on the grim superhero part (snikt!) in the X-Men films may be surprised that Hugh can also play a convincing cultured Englishman. He demonstrates this saving grace, a self-deprecating quality, which keeps him from venturing into snobbyland. So you end up liking him even as he imparts lessons in gentlemanly refinement and etiquette to various contemporary New Yorkers. Hugh's romancing of Meg is fun to watch and the most key element in the film, but, let's face it, the love story is a foregone conclusion. So, really, it's Hugh's reactions to his shocking new environs which particularly caught my interest. Would that we all were as graceful under similarly unfamiliar straits (although, yeah, his royal dudeness does lose it a bit when confounded by the enigmatic toaster).

It's fun watching Leopold interacting with New York's fast-lane living denizens. It's a given that the ladies would be bowled over by his charm and couth and accent. But I was surprised at how well Jackman works with Breckin Meyer, who plays Kate's aimless younger brother. It isn't too long before Breckin's character is looking up to Leo and taking his advice in behavior and in how to woo a chick. Breckin also just gave me a mantra for dealing with stubborn bottles of certain condiments: "You shake and shake the ketchup bottle; none will come, and then a lot'll."

Casting aside the trappings of time travel, KATE & LEOPOLD is a throwback, wafting in that whiff of old-fashioned romance. It's just as well that the time portal angle isn't dwelled on for much of the movie (other than in the running Stuart sub-plot), as it probably would've just muddied up the waters. As it is, we get to take in wonderful performances by Meg Ryan, being her sweet self, and Hugh Jackman, terrific as a nobleman out of his time but not out of his element. Hugh's Leopold reminds us that, even in the face of swines and cynicism, there's yet a place for good manners. And that also, back in the day, operas weren't just for sissies.

Meg Ryan and Romantic Comedies seem to be as synonymous and genre defining, to me, as Riddley Scott and Science Fiction. I am actually not typically a "Romantic Comedy" fan however, this film is very fun. Hugh Jackman is both believable and charming as a 19th century "man of privilege" stuck in the future (21st century New York.) Meg is a hard working career woman who is a romantic at heart, although she has become cynical from being hurt by previous relationships. (I can definitely relate to her character.) Liev Shreiber is great as the genius/comic relief for the film. He is such a good dramatic actor, it is nice to see his comedic side. Hugh Jackman's character also has some highly comedic moments, and Breckin Meyer is also enjoyable as "Kate's" younger brother, the actor. I love the time travel aspect of it, which is most notably enjoyable during the opening scene, although Jackman's character definitely keeps the "period" alive throughout. Just a fun film.

I highly recommend this movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you are in of treat. If you have seen it before, then you already know that. This is such a cute RomCom. It's cute, warm, fuzzy, funny, sweet, and kind of melts my heart. Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman make such a delightful couple on screen.