January 21, 2002 -- "Kate and Leopold" is a nice little romantic comedy with a preposterous premise. It involves a time travel technique which involves jumping off a bridge over a river without getting wet.

This suicidal time traveling technique is invented by mad scientist Stuart Besser (played by Liev Schreiber of "Hamlet" and the "Scream" movies). The idea is to locate a tear in the space time continuum and jump through it. The time portal is located under the Brooklyn Bridge, so you have to jump off the bridge to go back and forth in time. You jump off the bridge in 2002, you go back in time 100 years, but you don't land in the river. No matter where you land, you don't get wet and you don't get hurt from falling from a great height. It makes no sense.

But the film is not about logic or science. It is a romantic comedy. During one of his time travels, Besser brings back an unintended visitor, his great, great grandfather, Duke Leopold Alexis Elijah Walker Gareth Thomas Mountbatten (Hugh Jackman of "Swordfish"), an engineer who invents the elevator, among other things. The Duke and Besser's ex-girlfriend Kate McKay (Meg Ryan of "Proof of Life") are thrown together by circumstances and romantic sparks fly.

Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan make a fine romantic couple, while Schreiber and Breckin Meyer of "Rat Race" who plays Kate's brother, Charlie, provide excellent supporting performances. Meyer, star of the TV series "Inside Schwartz," seems perfectly suited to play the guileless third wheel, unlucky at love, but good-hearted and likeable. Ryan, of course, has made a great career ("Sleepless in Seattle," "You've Got Mail") playing women who have a lot of trouble finding the right man, despite the fact that she is very attractive and charming. She is the best there is at this kind of romantic comedy. Jackman is a fine romantic lead. Sting also won a Golden Globe award for his song "Until" which is played somewhere in this movie, but I don't remember hearing it anywhere.

While the time travel plot is downright silly, fine performances and excellent romantic chemistry rescue the story for the most part, until it reaches its outlandish conclusion. Writer-director James Mangold ("Girl Interrupted") does a good job directing the film, especially the romantic part of the story that occurs in modern New York City. The film gets across the idea that a gentleman with good manners, good looks, the heart of a poet and good romantic instincts is something that never goes out of style. It reinforces the notion that a man needs to prove to a woman that he is worthy of her, that he has overcome his basic boorishness in order to win her heart. It also advances the theory that in our modern ultra fast-paced society we have lost the charm, grace and romance of an earlier age. If one were to take the film seriously, the notion that a woman must chose between love and career might be troubling, and it is certainly outdated. Then again, you can't really take this film seriously. It's just a romantic fluff piece, but it is fun. This film rates a C+.

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