James Mangold directs Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman and Liev Schrieber in this time travel romance between a 19th century duke and 21st century career woman. 

More decline period Meg Ryan and this one is pretty vexatious as it squanders a good concept, a brilliant early turn by Hugh Jackman and some crisp direction by top end journeyman Mangold. The script fails as the bulk has the feeling of being assembled from the less memorable scenes of a forgotten sitcom’s first season rather than a tight 100 minute movie with a conclusion to pressingly get to. I love early Meg Ryan (I’m not going to say “young Meg Ryan” as that isn’t the problem, let’s clarify by saying “Meg Ryan back when she was hungry to make it”) but really after French Kiss and it is only her darker turns in Addicted to Love and In the Cut that work. If she felt stretched in a role rather than constricted there was a shift in effort. That sense of hating the gilded cage is apparent here as her Kate comes across as a bit of a selfish, petty bitch lashing out and interrupting the fish out of water fun rather than someone deserving of Hugh Jackman’s winning embodiment of an unjaded, principled and… Yes!… rather dashing love. My wife pointed out Billy Crystal is the only foil who works for her as he comes across as equally flawed. And I think she hit the nail on the head on why these romcom, with dream man macguffins rather than Harry Burnses as their end goals, don’t work for Ryan’s slightly irksome yet often adorable talents. And before someone pulls Sleepless in Seattle out of their arse… Ephron sensibly never shows us what a chalk and cheese trainwreck reality would occur after unleashing Ryan’s postal stalker on the widower and his kid’s actual lives post meet-cute.

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