From Hell

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From Hell(2001)

Might as well be Tim Burton

An ambitious goal, to say the least: Johnny Depp is Inspector Abelinne, the opium addict London police detective assigned to dope out (pun definitely intended) the Ripper killings in Whitechapel, 1888. Heather Graham is Mary, the hooker with the heart of gold, who's watching all her friends die one by one, with no one in the royalty caring what befalls any of them. There's the corrupt cops, the gangsters, the shadowy nobility, and just enough just enough fuzzy, jerky cinematography from Peter Deming (who added a nice touch to Lynch's Mulholland Drive).

Unfortunately, the parts here just don't add up to a satisfying whole. Directors Albert and Alan Hughes (American Pimp, Menace II Society) just can't keep a sufficient level of unease, which, considering the more or less accurate depictions of the Ripper's murders, doesn't speak well; and the screenplay by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias (based on Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel), while providing a satisfying whodunit-type conclusion, just can't rev up our motors. The bad guys are bad, but not quite bad enough; the good guys are good, but too placid to come off as victims. Also, was there any particular reason Depp's character had to be psychic? Or could he just have done old-fashioned police work? This approach might have worked better with Tim Burton's 1999 Sleepy Hollow, but when dealing with a piece of history horrifying enough to stand on its own without any in-my-dreams gobbledygook...just deliver the steak. Don't scrape around for the extra sizzle.

-Long