Fraternal directing team Albert and Allen Hughes abandon the crime-ridden streets of "Dead Presidents" and "Menace II Society" in favor of the crime-ridden streets of London's Whitechapel District, circa 1888. Working from the comic book series by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, "From Hell" takes on the oft-told story of Jack the Ripper and, unlike some retellings, makes no bones about the identity of history's first modern serial killer. It is giving nothing away to say that the Freemasons will not be pleased.
In a nod to both Edgar Allen Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the plot follows the drug-addled Inspector Frederick George Abberline (Johnny Depp) as a 19th Century Fox Mulder who seems to be both a rival and a pawn of the ruling aristocracy. Trapped in that gap between street life and nobility, Abberline can seemingly trust no one - except his Opium and Absinthe-induced hallucinations. For a while, it's interesting enough to follow Mr. Depp, who plays a character startlingly similar to the one he played in "Sleepy Hollow", as he broods and furrows his way through the film's impossibly dirty streets and a conspiracy worthy of Oliver Stone (that is not a compliment, by the way). But after showing up too late to one too many slaughters, the script by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias has nowhere left to go.
Too often, "From Hell" revels in needless bloodshed which is neither scary nor as stylish as the rest of the film. It is clear from the get-go that the Whitechapel district is not a place you'd like to be, but it's the brothers' desire to recreate the true grit of the London streets that eventually betrays them - specifically, in the casting of Heather Graham as a Whitechapel prostitute. Ms. Graham, who's doe-y eyes and perfect teeth look as though she's never seen a day of hardship in her life, is jarringly out of place - particularly among her fellow cast members, who look appropriately seedy. Her relationship with Mr. Depp is forced and their few scenes of woeful longing generate more laughs than anything else.
"From Hell" takes such liberties with history that it nearly reinvents the Ripper's story. Though the film begins with a quote from the man himself, it's unclear if the Hughes brothers wanted to create a compelling case for their version of history (a la "JFK") or if they just wanted to prove that they could succeed outside their typical milieu. Without a script on which to hang their vision, the brothers can only technically succeed. And, for better or worse, they do.
