atrocious.

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2002)

Apparently, Whitechapel prostitutes were all pretty, clear-skinned young women with hearts of gold. Apparently, Fred Abberline was an opium addict who committed suicide after the Ripper murders (NB: he wasn't, and he didn't - he lived until 1929). Johnny Depp, fine actor though he is, was hilariously miscast in this film - about 20 years too young for a start. Also, why do all American actors playing British characters feel they need to put on awful cockney accents? The real Abberline was born in Dorset and would almost certainly not have spoken with an "'ullo guvnor" accent. Mary Kelly (Heather Graham's character) was born in Ireland, raised in Wales and did not move to London until the age of 21. Leaving aside the constellation of factual errors, this was a really poor, and quite dull, film. Far too long, overly melodramatic, and quite ridiculous in parts (the romance between Abberline and Mary Kelly, for example). It's also interesting that the filmmakers based their work on Alan Moore's graphic novel, but did not bother to go back to the original source: Stephen Knight's speculative, but well-researched, "Jack the Ripper: the Final Solution".