From Hell

An opium-addicted London detective (Johnny Depp) investigates Jack the Ripper while falling for prostitute Mary Kelly (Heather Graham)—who was, in real life, the Ripper’s last victim. Adapted from Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s comic book by Terry Hayes and Rafael Yglesias and directed by brothers Albert and Allen Hughes, the film is stylish, visually inventive and extremely well-acted (the supporting cast includes Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm and Ian Richardson), but compromised by funereal pacing and a blaring musical score by Trevor Jones. This explanation of the Ripper killings (from Joseph Sickert’s fraudulent “solution,” which Sickert himself recanted over 20 years ago) was filmed in 1979 as Murder by Decree; Ripper buffs familiar with the story will find suspense noticeably lacking.