Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells and David Warner as Jack the Ripper make wonderful adversaries in this squashy fantasy-thriller which doesn't have a firm narrative, doesn't know when to quit, but does include marvelous performances and a handsome production. The plot itself is rather ingenious, too: Wells, about to unveil to colleagues a time machine of his own design in Victorian-era London, instead must use his contraption to chase down John Leslie Stevenson, a mad killer who has hijacked the machine to escape into the 20th century. Wafty Mary Steenburgen is cute as a bank-teller who becomes involved (her precise talk meshes beautifully with her funny/frazzled personality) and Patti D'Arbanville has a memorable bit as a modern-day victim of the Ripper. Yet, in the film's final third, these cat-and-mouse games become confused and ridiculous, and director Nicholas Meyer drags it out to an ungainly length. **1/2 from ****
Review of Time After Time
