An interesting mash-up of a time-travel, fish-out-of-water romance with a Jack the Ripper mystery never really lives up to its potential. Indeed, the romance is the worst part of it, mostly due to Mary Steenburgen's truly annoying performance, but also partly because it takes away from David Warner and his great performance as the Ripper. I would have loved to see more about his fascination and adoration of our violence-ridden culture - perhaps some sharp social commentary would have worked well. Instead, we're treated to a silly love story and not enough mystery. Malcolm McDowell is fine as H.G. Wells, but never really comes across as heroic. The script is surprisingly sharp at times, but really only when it's referring to the Ripper part of the story. It's well-made, but nothing special.
Review of Time After Time
