Honestly, if you hear that German television channel Sat 1 brings us a movie about Jack the Ripper, then it does not really sound as anything you'd look much forward to. On a positive note, it is not a failure as it could have been. On a negative note, it is also not a good movie. Writer Holger Karsten Schmidt has worked on some pretty good crime stuff in recent years, so I was surprised to see his name attached to this project. Director Sebastian Niemann seems more accurate looking at other stuff he has done. I personally think that the cast is the biggest problem of this 100-minute movie from November 2016. It begins with Sonja Gerhardt already. She is not good enough of an actress to carry a film like this, not in the lead role. She may be a cute face, but in terms of range, she just doesn't have it from what I saw here. The headstrong, dedicated female character in the center of the story may be an interesting new take on the JtR films, but it's not working with Gerhardt. Her face expression is basically the same during the entire movie and her presence (or lack thereof) harms the film instead of doing it any good. Also some of her line deliveries are pretty bad, but this is also a problem that applies to some of the supporting players.
The most known cast member here is probably Sabin Tambrea. I must say mediocre 'small-screen stuff may exactly be the right thing for him as I always found him mediocre. He has that air of mystery about him, but all that it does is disguise how limited of an actor he is. The other actors in here are luckily better, especially the older ones. I understand, however, that they wanted to use a known title here to get people interested in the story, but it may have been better to narrate a story without Jack the Ripper as the plot and the directions it takes did not feel authentic related to JtR, especially the plot twist at the end. In-between, the film loses itself at what could turn into a love triangle between the central character, a police officer and a photographer. Besides, it felt a bit generic how they included secrets and mysterious moments about every (male) character and how they could possibly Jack. A Sat 1 film of course has to deliver a revelation and solution at the end and this is why I think Jack the Ripper was not the right choice. Just make it a crime movie with unknown characters.
Overall, you see Schmidt's talent on some occasions and I would not say that the script was the biggest problem here. But it was one of the biggest problems that followed the weak lead performance. Everybody has heard of Jack the Ripper and the fact that there is nonetheless not yet a defining film about this legendary character shows how difficult it may be to deliver convincingly on this subject. This small screen production certainly isn't that either. It only delivers partially and it does more wrong than right I believe. More bad decisions than good ones and it seems it may not be a good choice in this film to tell other people that they will soon be dead. Also the forced and rushed happy ending isn't helping things at all. Do not watch.
The most known cast member here is probably Sabin Tambrea. I must say mediocre 'small-screen stuff may exactly be the right thing for him as I always found him mediocre. He has that air of mystery about him, but all that it does is disguise how limited of an actor he is. The other actors in here are luckily better, especially the older ones. I understand, however, that they wanted to use a known title here to get people interested in the story, but it may have been better to narrate a story without Jack the Ripper as the plot and the directions it takes did not feel authentic related to JtR, especially the plot twist at the end. In-between, the film loses itself at what could turn into a love triangle between the central character, a police officer and a photographer. Besides, it felt a bit generic how they included secrets and mysterious moments about every (male) character and how they could possibly Jack. A Sat 1 film of course has to deliver a revelation and solution at the end and this is why I think Jack the Ripper was not the right choice. Just make it a crime movie with unknown characters.
Overall, you see Schmidt's talent on some occasions and I would not say that the script was the biggest problem here. But it was one of the biggest problems that followed the weak lead performance. Everybody has heard of Jack the Ripper and the fact that there is nonetheless not yet a defining film about this legendary character shows how difficult it may be to deliver convincingly on this subject. This small screen production certainly isn't that either. It only delivers partially and it does more wrong than right I believe. More bad decisions than good ones and it seems it may not be a good choice in this film to tell other people that they will soon be dead. Also the forced and rushed happy ending isn't helping things at all. Do not watch.