Kate & Leopold Commentary continued

Detailed movie description

This description gives away all the plot points (in great detail) of the movie. Please watch the movie first before reading this if you don’t want to have the story “ruined” for you. You can rent it at most Blockbuster Video stores or buy it online.

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Leopold is an English duke in 1876, living in New York City, who wishes to be an inventor. Leopold is watching a speech by the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge, given in the shadow of the newly built bridge. He then rushes home to prepare for a ball given by his uncle. His valet, Otis, dresses him for the ball. Leopold clearly has no interest in the insipid, stupid women at the ball who are chasing after him but his uncle insists that he choose a woman to be his wife. Leopold protests against marrying anyone and promising eternal love when he has never felt love even momentarily. His uncle tells him his only hope is a rich wife, since Leopold's family is now poor.

Kate McCay is a modern career woman in 2001, a market researcher who does focus groups to find out what consumers want. Her ex-boyfriend, Stuart, lives in the apartment above her and is an unemployed genius inventor. He discovers a "portal in time" and leaps off the Brooklyn Bridge, landing in 1876. He follows Leopold around but is noticed by Leopold who chases him and grabs him just as he is jumping off the bridge to return, thus Leopold ends up in 2001. Kate hears Stuart making noise upstairs when he brings Leopold back to his apartment and calls him up. The conversation reveals their past contentious relationship and Kate’s current unhappiness, cynicism and loneliness. Kate refuses to believe Stuart when he tells her about Leopold.

Leopold wakes up the next morning in Stuart’s apartment baffled as to where he is, and doesn’t believe Stuart at first when he tells him he is in New York in 2001. Stuart promises to get him back home and says there is another portal opening next Monday (today being Wednesday). Stuart’s dog is barking non-stop to go out so Stuart leaves Leopold to take his dog for a walk and he falls down the apartment elevator shaft. Apparently, since Leopold is going to invent the elevator (but has not yet), elevators stopped working after he came forward in time. Kate comes downstairs to get her Palm Pilot stylus from Stuart and finds the dog alone in the hallway, with a pool of pee. She thinks Leopold is just a weird friend of Stuart’s and makes him take the dog outside for a walk. Leopold confronts modern-day New York outside and is astounded. When told by a cop to pick up the dog poop from Stuart’s dog, he is appalled at the idea of touching it and refuses. The cop then writes him a ticket.

Kate goes to work where her assistant Darci, is busy finishing a romance novel. Darci’s romantic bent is the opposite of Kate’s cynicism. Kate has been working with focus groups to find a likeable spokesperson for Farmer's Bounty margarine. All the choices so far are really terrible and she decides to have the focus group look at more selections tomorrow, though time is running out to film the commercial before the product is released. Her boss, JJ, calls her into his office and talks about how he appreciates her. He says that she's not like other women, "not really one of them" but knows how they think, that she "skews male", that she "doesn't do pretty".  Then he asks her to go to dinner tomorrow to discuss her future with the company. Later she learns Stuart is in the hospital after falling down the elevator shaft and goes to see him. When he tells her to take care of Leopold she refuses, not believing that he's from another time and she refuses to develop Stuart's pictures from 1876, thinking Stuart is crazy.

Kate's brother Charlie returns home from an actor's retreat and befriends Leopold, thinking he is an actor as well (playing a duke). He invites him for dinner downstairs with Kate and himself. At dinner, Kate and Charlie are bemused by Leopold's strange manners, such as standing every time Kate leaves the table. When Kate asks Leopold why he is standing, he replies "I'm accustomed to standing when a lady leaves the table" and Charlie jumps up to stand as well. But Kate is annoyed by Leopold's chivalrous mannerisms, his insistence that he is from 1876 and his discussion about Stuart's brilliant time travel theories, all of which she thinks is nonsense, thus she gets upset and asks him to leave.

The next morning, Kate is doing yoga downstairs when she hears Stuart's smoke alarm go off. She rushes upstairs and waves the smoke away to make the alarm quit. Leopold has burned numerous pieces of toast since the toaster doesn't work properly. He rails at her about the "General of Electric" not caring whether his appliance works right, since pushing the toaster down once merely produces warm bread and pushing it down twice burns it. She replies that "no one gives a rat's ass" that you have to push it down twice, since everyone does that and mocks him for saying that where he comes from, food is the prepared with care and reflection. He then responds with a description of a wonderful, carefully prepared breakfast, including "fresh creamery butter". Kate is wowed by his description and realizes that he is the perfect spokesperson for the margarine.

Kate takes Leopold to work to see if the focus group likes him. JJ and the client think he is weird, dressed up in his duke's clothes, but the women of the focus group are drooling at this handsome, articulate man, proving that he is the ideal spokesperson. JJ kisses her head as they are leaving work, pleased with her finding a great spokesperson and mentions dinner that night. Leopold witnesses this, says JJ's intentions are obvious and asks if she needs a chaperone for tonight, which she declines.

As Kate is flagging down a taxi, Leopold asks her to take the horse and carriage. She replies that they're just for tourists. She goes to get in the cab and a mugger grabs her purse, taking off into Central Park. Kate runs after the mugger to retrieve her purse, yelling at him. However, she can't catch him and finally stops, giving up. She then turns around and Leopold is thundering up to her on a white horse. He grabs her hand, swings her up onto the horse and gallops off after the mugger, with Kate screaming. The mugger gets trapped at a barred gate to the park and frightened by Leopold swinging the reins like a weapon, throws the purse down and runs away. Leopold and Kate then take a leisurely ride in the horse and carriage through the park, with Kate (feeling stunned) beginning to believe that maybe Leopold is "for real", really a duke from 1876.

Kate gets ready for dinner that night with her boss, while Leopold is training Stuart’s unruly dog to behave. As she leaves for dinner, Leopold repeats his offer to chaperone her, which she rejects. JJ shows Kate pictures of his 18th century English estate that he will be staying at and says that he'll be craving face time with his "head honcho" and Kate should come visit him. Kate questions what he means by "head honcho" but he dodges the question, asking instead if she would like to go to the opera with him.

Charlie and Leopold go out to meet Charlie's friends in a bar, including a woman, Patrice, that Charlie is interested in. Charlie alienates Patrice by jumping up and manically reenacting a comic act that he saw, trying to impress her. Leopold sees how everyone is turned off by Charlie's behavior and he interrupts Charlie, talking about the treasures that are hidden in the basement of the Louvre. Patrice, an art major, is transfixed by Leopold's descriptions. After leaving the bar, Charlie imitates Leopold, mocking him, as he is jealous of his stealing Patrice's attention. Leopold responds that he got Patrice's phone number for Charlie and he counsels Charlie in how to approach Patrice properly, to tell her of his affection instead of trying to impress her with his comedic acting. Charlie then figures out that Leopold is attracted to Kate, when Leopold says that Kate should be home by now. As they are both drunk, Charlie persuades Leopold to drop in on Kate and her boss at dinner.

Kate and JJ's dinner is winding down. Kate questions why they had dinner since they haven't discussed anything about work. JJ responds that he's never seen her this flustered and "you haven't even kissed me yet". Kate maintains her professional tone and says she likes him and they have a good working relationship and asks in a confused tone just what their relationship is. Just then, Charlie and Leopold show up at their table at the restaurant. They sit down and Leopold starts conversing with JJ. JJ mentions his 18th century English estate. Leopold responds that JJ must have been swindled because he grew up there and as of the late 19th century, there was only farmland there. Kate is embarrassed and argues with Leopold that he must be mistaken. Then JJ talks about opera, stating he learned to speak French fluently from watching La Boheme, his favorite opera. Kate is impressed by JJ. Leopold says something to JJ in French and JJ is speechless when asked to translate it. Leopold then turns to Kate and translates, "how sweet your face looks, its beauty softly kissed by the gentle moonlight", which he says is from La Boheme. Kate sighs, "Oh, I like that". JJ responds that Andre sings that to Mimi and Leopold scoffs. Then JJ says to Leopold that he invited Kate to La Boheme and she refused, and he can't understand why. Leopold responds that perhaps Kate refused on moral grounds, that some would say "that to court a woman in one’s employ is nothing more than a serpentine effort to transform a lady into a whore". Kate is embarrassed and when JJ says to her that the duke thinks him a serpent, she replies "no, he doesn't". Leopold responds that serpent is too grand a term for him. He is merely a braggart and a cad. He gets up to leave in disgust and states that La Boheme, while set in France, is rarely performed in French as it is written in Italian and it is "Rodolpho" and not "Andre" who is the lead character in it.

When Kate gets home that night, she is furious at Charlie and Leopold for embarrassing her in front of her boss and refuses to speak to them. Leopold writes her an apology letter with a quill and ink, which Charlie slips into her briefcase the next morning. While Kate is sitting in a meeting, she finds the letter, which is very eloquent, stating that he was animated by drink, foolish pride and her beauty. To make up for his behavior, he invites her to a private rooftop dinner that night. She is then asked about the status of the Farmer’s Bounty campaign and she describes the high approval rating of Leopold by the focus group, where the women described him as “handsome”, “romantic” and several wrote in the comment “what a hunk”. As she says that, it’s evident that she is reluctantly agreeing and realizing her attraction to him. Meanwhile, Leopold is tutoring Charlie in how to approach Patrice. Charlie calls up Patrice and instead of playing a clown, he is sincere and tells her how much he likes her. She accepts his invitation to dinner and a movie that night, which delights Charlie. Darci writes an acceptance for Kate, to Leopold’s dinner invitation and insists that she sign it and fax it, saying that it’s the “best apology in the history of mankind”.

Kate arrives home and puts on a beautiful dress for the dinner with Leopold, a dress she has clearly not worn since it still has the price tag on it. Previously she has only appeared in mannish pants and jackets. She goes up to the roof, which has been transformed by candles, plants and a live violinist into a place of exquisite beauty, stunning Kate. During dinner Kate says that she is not very good with men, to which Leopold replies “perhaps you haven't found the right man”. He talks about how he was to pick a wife the night he left 1876 and would have been married now. When asked to whom, he says he doesn't know. He needed a rich wife. His valet, Otis, told him “love is a leap” and adds “lamentably, I was never inspired to jump”. After dinner, Leopold invites Kate to dance and waltzes around the roof with her. Then they stop dancing, realize their attraction for each other and Kate expresses her fear of “leaping”. Leopold says something eloquent about facing fear and then they kiss.

The next morning, Leopold and Charlie converse in the kitchen. Charlie says his date with Patrice was "good, nice" and Leopold says the same thing of his date with Kate. Then Charlie says, “don’t you think it’s time you tell me who you are?” still thinking that Leopold is an actor pretending to be a duke. Charlie mentions how Kate has been hurt by men in the past. Leopold responds that he is “the man who loves your sister”. Kate then gets up and Leopold feeds her a gourmet breakfast, his kindness and graciousness bringing tears to her eyes. Since it’s Saturday, they spend the day leisurely touring New York. At one point, Leopold spots the townhouse where his uncle and he lived, which still stands. He rushes over to it and goes inside, to see what it is like now. He shows Kate where his quarters were and she doesn’t quite believe him but then he pulls at a painted section of wall and breaks the paint as he pulls out a hidden drawer. He says he kept everything of value in this drawer, hidden from his uncle. She watches him with astonishment as he opens the safebox in the drawer and pulls out his mother’s ring, which he then takes with him.

That night, they lounge together on her balcony, listening to the man across the street playing "Moon River" from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Kate says she wants more days like this, like “1876”. Leopold says they have tomorrow, Sunday, but she replies that “Sunday is the day before the day I work so it gets poisoned”, plus they have to film his commercial tomorrow. Leopold pulls the ring out of his pocket and starts to haltingly ask Kate something (like would she consider marrying him) but then he stops as he realizes she is falling asleep. He tucks her into bed and she says, “you’re my Otis”, to which he replies, “yes, your grace”. He starts to leave but she asks him to stay. So they fall asleep together in her bed, both smiling in their happiness at having found love for the first time.

The next day, Sunday, they go to do the commercial shoot for Farmer's Bounty margarine. Leopold is dressed up like a "duke" while a "butler" brings him toast with Farmer's Bounty on it. Leopold follows the script but then after biting the toast and tasting the margarine, he is appalled. He says it tastes like "saddle soap". When told it's "not his concern", he stalks out in a huff. Kate goes running after him to placate him and convince him to finish the commercial shoot. Leopold angrily declares that for no reason other than his affection for Kate, he finds himself "peddling pond scum". He asks if she has tasted it and she says "yes". She knows it tastes awful. She says "It's diet, it’s supposed to taste bad". Leopold tells her that when one finds oneself involved in an activity totally without merit, one withdraws. She says she doesn't have a choice and he retorts that he can quit and so can she. She responds that the customer is a big account for her company and he doesn't understand what it's like since he's a "200-year old man who's never worked a day in his life". He replies that she has no idea what he's done with his life and she says that he has no idea what she's done with hers. She says she has been "paying dues all her life" and she's tired and she needs a rest and if she has to "peddle a little pond scum to get it, she'll do that".  He then relents and agrees to finish the commercial shoot but they continue to be angry at each other. In the taxi on the way home, she says they had a wonderful weekend but it's over now. He replies that she still doesn't believe he is the "man he says he is". They both spend the night apart, lonely and listening to Moon River play across the street.

Stuart, meanwhile, has still been in the hospital because his ranting about the space-time continuum being messed up got him thrown into the psycho ward. Monday morning he talks to a young woman on the staff about his time theories, she believes him and sneaks him out of the hospital. He goes home, sees a fax on the machine from Kate to Leopold accepting his dinner invitation and realizes they have gotten involved. He tells Leopold that despite that, he has to return to his own time, which Leopold does.

Kate meanwhile goes to work, and gloomily trudges up the stairs to her office. JJ calls her into his office and tells her that he has decided to promote her to senior vice president, in charge of the New York office, since he is leaving to go to England next week. She is thrilled to have gotten the position she covets. He says he'll see her at the dinner party tonight (a business gala to celebrate the merger of their company with another). She rushes to her office to call Leopold and tell him the news of her promotion and apologize for her behavior on Sunday but she just gets Stuart's answering machine. Leopold has now gone back to his own time and Stuart, on hearing the message, realizes that Kate loves Leopold. Charlie stops by to see Leopold and asks Stuart where he is. Stuart says, "He went home". Charlie then starts looking at the snapshots Stuart has of 1876 and realizes that Leopold was "for real" and not an actor. Then he sees something in one of the snapshots that startles him and shows it to Stuart.

Kate finishes her workday and dresses in a long dress for the party. She descends in the elevator (which is now working again, since Leopold returned to 1876) and tearily looks at the name "Otis" on the elevator wall (name of the elevator company), reminding her of Leopold's valet named Otis. A hired car takes her to the location of the dinner party, which turns out to be Leopold's old townhouse. She wanders around the townhouse with tears in her eyes, looking at the picture of Leopold's family and the room that was his quarters, instead of socializing. The emptiness of her current life is now magnified after the time she spent with Leopold. Meanwhile, Leopold is preparing for the ball that night where he has to select a wife. He wearily tells his uncle to just tell him who is the richest woman and he will announce his engagement to her at midnight. The evening shows a replay of the ball at the beginning of the movie except that Leopold does not protest against choosing a wife and does not chase after Stuart. He looks resigned and unhappy, showing that his life is also empty without Kate.

Back at Kate's party, Stuart and Charlie break into the party and confront Kate. They tell her she must look at the photos from 1876 and that she needs to go back in time to Leopold. She asks how she can do that and Charlie says she has to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge in the next 23 minutes. She says they're crazy, that she has to go downstairs to give a speech, as JJ is announcing her at that very moment. Stuart says that he knows he was a bad boyfriend to Kate but maybe the reason they were together is so that he could bring Kate together with Leopold. Kate rushes downstairs, is introduced as the new senior vice president, "our own little rising star" and goes to the podium. She starts speaking about how her company finds out what people want and the other company makes what people want, so imagine what they can do together. Then she looks down at the podium and sees the snapshots from 1876, which are displayed there, showing Leopold dancing at the ball. As she continues looking at them, she sees a snapshot of herself at the ball in 1876. She falters in her speech, stares at the photos speechless for a couple of moments, then continues with her speech but talks about what if what you thought you wanted wasn't what you really wanted after all. And what if someone knew what you wanted, like they could feel your heart beating or see your thoughts. What if they didn't have to do focus groups and were sure of themselves. And what if they loved you and you hesitated. Then she says she has to go and she rushes out of the room with Stuart and Charlie and they go dashing in a taxi and then running to the Brooklyn Bridge, to get there before the time portal closes. While in the taxi, she asks Stuart to explain to her how it is possible for her to be in photographs of the past and it is not something that he is able to logically explain to her. They then reach the Brooklyn Bridge and Stuart tells her she has to walk across the girder spanning the highway to get to the edge of the bridge. She is terrified and hesitates. He asks her if she loves Leopold. She says "yes" and he tells her "that's all you need to know". So she crosses the girder to the edge of the bridge. A cop comes up, thinking she is a suicidal jumper but before he can do anything, she disappears.

The scene changes to 1876. Kate is running through the street to get to the duke's townhouse where his ball is, before he announces his bride at midnight. Her dress has now magically changed to a style appropriate to the time. She reaches the door just as Leopold is starting to announce whom he will marry but the servants at the door refuse her admittance. Then Otis comes up to the door and apparently she talks him into admitting her as she is then inside. Leopold has reached the part of his speech where he is to announce his bride and states "the future duchess of Albany" at which point Kate appears in the crowd. Leopold spots her and his glum look is replaced with a look of astonishment and he concludes his sentence with "Kate McCay", then says "of the McCays of..." and as he hesitates, Kate states "Massapequa". He repeats "Massapequa", walking towards her with delight and astonishment on his face. As he reaches her, she looks up at him and tells him she loves him. He responds that he loves her and kisses her heartily. She looks around at the crowd afterwards, not sure what to do, then he pulls her into the waltz position and they begin a waltz, grinning at each other, while the rest of the crowd joins in the dance.

Picture © 2001 Miramax Films. All Rights Reserved.

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This is the end of the Kate & Leopold movie commentary. © 2002 Margaret Auld-Louie. Send any comments to Margaret Auld-Louie.