Review of From Hell (2001) by Rob C — 17 Feb 2010

What I enjoy about Johnny Depp is that he can star in a film and make it his own. He does just that here. He plays Inspector Fred Abberline on the case of the Jack The Ripper murders. His bleak and disturbed character is perfectly portrayed by Depp.

I've read the book, of the same name, and noticed a lot of differences here. One thing I have to point out about this film is that here he's an opium-addicted widower, and in the book he's not. But, I guess The Hughes Bros., wanted to expand on his character and make him more interesting to the masses; considering the type of roles Johnny Depp plays. I found nothing wrong with it, though. I came into the film knowing that a lot of parts from the book would be changed around. On the part of Mary Kelly (Heather Graham), Abberline's love interest, she's portrayed straight, unlike the book where she's a lesbian. There are a few more, but I'm not going to go into a tirade of comparisons.

Ian Holm plays a great Jack The Ripper, though. Something about the look in his eyes, that screams evil. What I did love about the film is that they didn't cast Depp and Graham all heavy duty sexual on eachother. They kept it strictly business and that's what From Hell was, all business.