Reviews

This film taught me an important lesson. Don't choose a movie based on the past works of the people who made it (which works both ways, actually).

I was expecting a film directed by Alex Proyas to be at least half-decent, but was unpleasantly surprised.

This film has a storyline so lame it's funny, mediocre dialogue, truly appalling acting (with one or two exceptions) and superfluous special effects. Don't waste your time with it. I watched it with my girlfriend and we were ready to switch it off after 10 minutes. We gave it another 10 minutes to see if it improved - nope. Back to the Loch with you, Nessie!

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".

Pacino's brilliant performance is the highlight of the film, but the rest of the cast do a fine job too (Robert Loggia is convincing as Pacino's ineffectual boss). Some might see this film as being terribly violent but the violence is by no means gratuitous; it is there to emphasise the ugliness of the main protagonists. The only major criticism I have of this film is - why was Giorgio Moroder selected to compose the soundtrack? It is, without exception throughout the movie, ineffectual and inappropriate.

From the appallingly bad writing to the (unintentionally funny) overacting of Elizabeth Berkley (did she really think this was going to be her big break? She must be dumber than she looks then), this is Z-Grade schlock of the worst kind. I couldn't actually watch the whole thing in one sitting. What was so surprising about this movie was that there were actually some decent actors in it, but they were given absolutely nothing to work with. Kyle McLachlan will never live this one down.

Showgirls was tacky, long-winded and amateurish from start to finish. Easily the worst film I have ever seen.