Movie Notes: Time After Time

September 19th, 2007

Time After Time

= 3 stars

Starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen
Directed by Nicholas Meyer

I saw Time After Time as a kid and it was entertaining to revisit today. I have faded memories of the time machine special effects and H.G. Welles not understanding McDonalds. Now an adult, I paid more attention to the retro-romantic scenery of San Francisco, the coldly sadistic villain Jack the Ripper, and Mary Steenburgen’s odd yet endearing performance.

The film starts in Victorian England, where author H.G. Welles (writer of War of the Worlds and The Time Machine) has invented a real, working time machine. Unfortunately, John Stevenson, a.k.a. “Jack the Ripper” (terrorizing Victorian London by killing prostitutes) borrows it and zips off to future San Francisco, 1979. H.G. Welles decides to put things right and follows Mr. Ripper to that future in order to capture and bring him to justice. Along the way, he falls in love with bank teller Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen). Yes, the plot is rather goofy, but director Nicholas Meyers milks it for all it’s worth.

The ever-talented McDowell provides the movie’s backbone. He plays Welles with a wussy, moral decency, and a charming curiosity about the future society he’s landed in - Welles trying to order a hamburger or riding a taxi are classic, fish-out-of-water comedy. Welles also optimistically believes that future society will have advanced to a state of utopia. When he slowly realizes that mankind has become more depraved and violent than ever, McDowell captures Welles’ reluctant disappointment.

David Warner plays a silent yet malicious Jack the Ripper who is so serious he can only be thinking evil thoughts. He may be a bit too subdued for some tastes but I enjoyed him.

Mary Steenburgen is another matter altogether. A bit unsure of herself (this is supposedly only her second role), once in the clutches of Jack the Ripper her expressions vanish and she practically becomes a mannequin. Still, the blossoming romance between her and Welles is believable - perhaps because they’re both such odd ducks - and the film’s ending is just about romantically perfect.

Watching Time After Time is also a fun, retro experience as the movie’s 1979 is their present, but in 2007 it’s certainly the past. For Bay Area denizens, you can chew on the fun scenery of the Hyatt Regency on Market Street and the Palace of Fine Arts. There’s also a tense foot chase over the Embarcadero Center bridges, and from the rotating restaurant (Equinox) you can see the Embarcadero freeway which no longer exists due to the 1989 earthquake. There’s also scene where Mr. Ripper shows Welles television broadcasts of war and murders worldwide, and how he feels at home in this violent society. I can’t help but imagine he might have been even happier in 2007.

For trivia buffs, director Nicholas Meyer went on to helm Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which featured the crew of the Enterprise time traveling back in time to San Francisco. If only they had run into Welles and taken him on a trip to the Starfleet future to see that space faring utopia.

IMDB: Time After Time
Wikipedia: Time After Time
Rotten Tomatoes: Time After Time 85%