OxfordPress.com

Grade: C+

Verdict: Any chance to watch Hugh Jackman is most welcome, but he's got to choose better movies than this.

Details: Starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. Directed by James Mangold. Rated PG-13 for language. One hour, 58 minutes.

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Review: Disappointment can make a so-so movie seem worse than it is. That's the case with "Kate & Leopold," a movie with a semi-delectable premise, a sometimes delectable Meg Ryan and the certifiably delectable Hugh Jackman.

Jackman plays Leopold, a 19th-century nobleman who's catapulted from 1876 to 2001 when he accidentally dives into a time portal (don't ask). The portal is discovered by a 21st-century amateur inventor named Stuart (Liev Schreiber), whose unhappy ex-girlfriend Kate (Ryan) lives in the apartment below his.

Kate and Leopold meet but don't match in this fish-out-of-water story along the lines of a "Splash" or "Time After Time." The picture's big problem is that it's sloppy. Sort of like last summer's "America's Sweethearts" was sloppy. Apparently, once the stars are signed up, the rest doesn't matter.

Oh, but it does, especially in a featherweight fantasy-tinged romance. We're willing to suspend our disbelief, but the movie lacks its own inner logic. Characters show up and disappear on a whim. Stuart is conveniently sidelined in the hospital. An adorable African-American kid befriends Leopold, then pretty much disappears.

Often things happen because, well, they need to happen to help out the studio's marketing campaign. So it is with a spectacularly unconvincing purse-snatching and Leopold's ride to the rescue.

Ryan is just fine ("Two hours of cute is about all I can take," whispered a colleague) at a certain kind of light comedy. But she's not at her best here.

Jackman is a different story. This excellent Australian actor must have the worst agent in Hollywood. He followed up "X-Men" with "Swordfish," "Someone Like You" and now this. However, that agent also has landed him a spot hosting "Saturday Night Live" and announcing the Golden Globe nominees (he got one himself for this movie).

But Jackman could be more than the next bit of beefcake. Like Liam Neeson, who also endured a beefcake phase, he's soulful, sexy and a gifted actor. And while he does much to help "Kate & Leopold," he can't save it.

In the movie's 1876 portion, Leopold's uncle figures the best way to improve the family's cash flow is to marry his nephew off to some wealthy heiress. Told by a servant that Leopold is almost ready for his presentation, the uncle snaps, "I don't want him ready. I want him resplendent."

Jackman is resplendent. Now he's ready for some decent roles.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, (none)