A frothy, old-school romantic fantasy with a strong central charm offensive, especially from Hugh Jackman, but it asks viewers to overlook some clunky plotting and dated gender politics. If you want a light, glossy time-travel rom-com with period-costume appeal, it can be very easy to enjoy.
18% ★☆☆☆☆ (162,663)
Kate & Leopold
Where to watch: Paramount
Movie · Romance · Comedy · PG-13
2001 · 1h 58m · ★ 18% (162.7K)
If they lived in the same century, they'd be perfect for each other.
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber
Overview
When her scientist ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to travel through time -- and brings back a 19th-century nobleman named Leopold to prove it -- a skeptical Kate reluctantly takes responsibility for showing Leopold the 21st century. The more time Kate spends with Leopold, the harder she falls for him. But if he doesn't return to his own time, his absence will forever alter history.
Director
James Mangold
Production
Konrad Pictures, Miramax
Cast
Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne, Bradley Whitford, Paxton Whitehead, Spalding Gray, Josh Stamberg, Matthew Sussman, Philip Bosco, Stephanie Sanditz, Charlotte Ayanna, Andrew Jack, Stan Tracy, Kristen Schaal, William Sanford, Arthur J. Nascarella, Robert Ray Manning Jr., Roma Torre
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A frothy, old-school romantic fantasy with a strong central charm offensive, especially from Hugh Jackman, but it asks viewers to overlook some clunky plotting and dated gender politics. If you want a light, glossy time-travel rom-com with period-costume appeal, it can be very easy to enjoy.
Best for
fans of romantic comedies with a fantasy hook
viewers who enjoy fish-out-of-water period characters in modern New York
people looking for early-2000s studio charm and star chemistry
audiences who like sentimental, low-stakes escapism
Skip if
you want a tightly written time-travel story
you are sensitive to outdated relationship dynamics
you prefer sharp comedy over broad, polished sentiment
you dislike rom-coms that lean heavily on fantasy wish-fulfillment
Overview
Kate & Leopold is the kind of studio romance that survives on charisma, polish, and a premise that is just absurd enough to work. James Mangold keeps it breezy, and the movie knows exactly what it wants to be: a handsome, lightly whimsical fantasy about a modern woman and a 19th-century gentleman colliding in New York. The time-travel mechanics are mostly a device for meet-cute chemistry, not rigorous sci-fi, and the film is happiest when it leans into that silliness.
Worth noting
Hugh Jackman is the movie’s secret weapon, playing Leopold with such ease and warmth that he makes the whole conceit feel more plausible than it should. Meg Ryan gives the film its contemporary edge, though the script often asks her to carry the more awkward emotional and thematic baggage. The result is charming in bursts, but also very much of its era, with a few choices that now play as dated or frustrating.
Bottom line
As a romance, it is soft-focus and agreeable; as a fantasy, it is playful but thin. If you want a glossy comfort watch with a memorable leading man and a fairy-tale glow, it delivers. If you need the story to fully justify its own logic or modernize its ideas about love and independence, it will likely leave you wanting more.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (3.5★) · 1948 likes
a hard sci-fi masterpiece that poses the question, what if the hottest aristocrat inventor of the 1870s disappeared into the present day? the answer, of course, is that all the world's elevators would disappear and he'd be really good at pitching butter on TV
Dean (5★) · 1584 likes
why did hugh jackman start making anything other than romcoms? why is meg ryan's hair so bad in this movie? why are cellphones such a big part of the plot? who knows!
ncgraham (4★) · 1562 likes
so Leopold’s family is still in debt with no new money being brought to the table, Kate will have to get used to a life without a career, voting rights, or modern plumbing, Stuart will probably get sent back to the mental hospital after assisting in a presumed suicide, and Charlie is alone in New York without a family or career! we stan a happy ending but yeah I love this dumbass movie and you can’t stop me
eely (3★) · 1127 likes
I’m the man who listens to the breakfast at tiffany’s soundtrack until he falls asleep every single night
rach (3.5★) · 1040 likes
hugh jackman in this film has me like 💕💖💓💓💖💖💗💗💖💓💓💘💞💕💖💓💖💖💓
2001 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 30m · Where to watch: fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand, Kanopy
A contemporary romantic fantasy from the same era, built on fate, longing, and New York atmosphere.
A sentimental, fate-driven romance that shares the same comforting, idealized emotional register.
Themes
time travel, romantic fantasy, fish-out-of-water comedy, gender roles, wish fulfillment, modernity vs tradition, New York City, class and etiquette
Topics
romantic comedy, fantasy, time travel, fish-out-of-water, fish-out-of-water comedy, early 2000s, sentimental, New York City, period romance, lighthearted