MEG Ryan's back... in a romantic comedy. Ho-hum.

Here she plays a hapless single female filed under Unlucky In Love. So, no change there then.

Kate is a career girl desperate to clinch a deal that will win her a vice-presidency at her Manhattan agency. She's fresh out of a relationship with Stuart (Liev Schreiber) who's a bit of a time-travel nut.

Stuart has found a portal into the 19th century - you just have to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. All goes well until on one such trip he is followed back by Leopold (Hugh Jackman), the impecunious Third Duke of Albany and a bit of a science man himself - he's on the verge of inventing the elevator.

Coming round in Manhattan 2002 is a bit of a shock for Leo, though not as much as you would have thought. He copes admirably well with the vagaries of toasters, taxis and modern table manners, though he is more than distracted by Kate and sets out to woo her - the old-fashioned way.

The plot follows a well-trodden route from distant attraction, through mild flirtation to full-on coming together followed by a split and the guaranteed reconciliation.

What's more, we've seen this done many, many times before by none other than Ms Ryan.

She coasts through this movie on some kind of rom-com auto-pilot.

She pulls the faces, tweaks the grins and gives that whole kooky but clever airhead thing a thorough dusting down. Jackman, on the other hand, makes merry with the obvious comic possibilities of being the man out of time. He is stiff and uncertain but also wholesomely assured of his own abilities - the kind of fella any woman would give her eye-teeth for.

The plot has more holes than a lace hankie and the story is cheesier than Cheddar.

The performances (with the possible exception of Jackman's) are all but phoned in and the support cast is woefully under-used.

But, for all that, if this is your bag and you don't want to look too closely, it might just be worth a visit.

Nick Churchill

l See it at UCI, Odeon