Tuesday, August 14, 2018

TIME AFTER TIME (1979) ***


H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) invents a time machine when wouldn’t you know it, Jack the fucking Ripper (David Warner) steals it to elude capture by the police.  Wells takes off to modern day San Francisco in hot pursuit of the Ripper and stop him from committing more murders.  Along the way, he winds up falling in love with a sweet-natured bank teller (Mary Steenburgen) who naturally becomes the Ripper’s next target.

Director Nicholas Meyer takes a fantastic premise and goes off and running with it right from the get-go.  The first-person opening scene of the Ripper preying upon an unsuspecting prostitute is a crackling bit of suspense that would make Hitchcock proud.  The ensuing scenes of Wells getting his first taste of the future are fun (like when he goes to McDonald’s) and McDowell’s light and cheery performance is truly winning.

After a breezy setup, the movie reaches a plateau once McDowell begins his courtship of Steenburgen.  Although there is considerable chemistry between the two (they fell in love on set and were later married), these scenes are just too drawn out and not nearly as engaging as McDowell’s hunt for Warner.  Things perk up during the finale, but it ultimately lacks the punch of the early scenes. 

Steenburgen later starred in another romantic time travel movie, Back to the Future 3, and Meyer went on to write another time traveling flick set in San Francisco, Star Trek 4:  The Voyage Home. 

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