Come on guys, give it a break. It wasn't all that bad. As an amateur historian on the history of England, I know perfectly well that it's HIGHLY unlikely that Prince Eddy did it. Proving who Jack the Ripper was, however, did not seem to be the main objective of the film. It was entertaining, no matter what its historical value is.
In casting Sam West as the villainous and elusive Prince Eddy, the filmmakers managed to take an actor that was so unbelievably wholesome looking and turn him in the epitome of evil. Sam West is one of my favorite actors and I admit that this may make me a little biased in his favor. BUT, his skill as an actor is undisputed by critics everywhere. His portrayal of Eddy made you hate him and pity him all at the same time. This is an extremely hard thing to do and I admire him for it. The fact that one knows that it is Prince Eddy from almost the first scene makes this even more apparent.
Patrick Bergin seemed to play backseat, but his subtle East End accent and pure innocence in the ways of polite Victorian society, made him the perfect actor for the character. Perhaps if his character had been slightly more developed, he could have stepped to the same level as West, but the script did not allow for it. Given what he was given, I think that Bergin did a wonderful job.
Gabrielle Anwar did a good job as the feisty ex-prostitute heroine, but her character wasn't given much breathing space. She was playing a stereotype and this was one of the things that annoyed me greatly. The character of Florie seemed to play into the stereotype of saucy-romance-novel heroine. Perhaps if she had not been so tragically good, brought down by her surroundings, it might have been more tolerable, but as her character was predictable (though of course admirable), it would have been better for the film.
Michael York irritated me, but that's probably just too much prejudice on my part anyway. Apart from a few complaints about the story-line (the romance aspect), I think that the film set out what it meant to accomplish--to prove both that royalty is fallible (and periodically homicidal, though this might be a bit of a stretch given the world's current monarchs) and that you can't always judge a book by its cover. Apart from the sadistic little moustache (the height of fashion at the time--everyone was doing it), Sam West appears to be the perfect company. Except the fact that he's a homicidal maniac inside. That might dampen dinner a bit.
Overall, not bad. Rent it, don't recommend buying it unless you're a die-hard Sam West/Patrick Bergin fan. You probably won't be hideously disappointed unless you're a Ripper-ologist, in which case, you might want to skip it because its little historical inaccuracies are irritating. The acting, however, will not disappoint.
