However, since I am familiar with some of the theories of Jack the Ripper's identity, I realized within a few minutes where the movie was going. From Hell therefore had few surprises in store for me. So, already knowing the outcome of the movie's mystery, I was free to concentrate on the film's cinematic qualities, and considering the level of talent involved, I found From Hell to be competent but uninspiring. The Hughes Brothers direct without exploiting the gore or creating gratuitous violence, but for all From Hell's lip service to a dirty London underworld of drugs, prostitution, and disease, the directing doesn't capture the atmosphere the movie desperately needs. It just seems very . . . clean, somehow.

Johnny Depp, an actor of ability and range, seems to sleepwalk through a role that, to be fair, doesn't give him a whole lot to do anyway. Ian Holm is moderately interesting, but Robbie Coltrane is wasted, as is the rest of the cast (some of whom have more to offer than others, and I'm not naming names). None of the actors can help the unevenly paced screenplay, which presents a murderous conspiracy and yet fails to give proper attention to the details of that conspiracy. Perhaps the powers that be were worried that making the movie too complex would alienate the portion of the audience just looking for blood and guts. I doubt it--the gore, seen and implied, is here whether or not you give the potentially complicated plot its due. As a result of suffers simplification, the film lacks the intricate structure that made other, similar thrillers--The Silence of the Lambs comes to mind--great.