In
late Victorian London, the rabble of the Limehouse district had only two
sources of entertainment. Attending music hall performances and devouring the
lurid newspaper coverage of serial killings. These were jolly days for everyone
who woke up to find themselves still alive. After reading accounts of the
so-called Golem’s latest indiscriminate savagery, they trundled off to see Dan
Leno’s nightly revue. The parallels between murder and performance are not lost
on the scapegoat Scotland Yard inspector assigned to the case in Juan Carlos
Medina’s The Limehouse Golem (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Rumors
have long sabotaged Inspector John Kildare’s career and now he is being set-up
to fail. However, if he solves the case, it will mean promotion and
vindication. He might just be the right man for the job as well. After all,
Sherlock Holmes was also a confirmed bachelor. As soon as working class Constable
George Flood agrees to serve as his sergeant, they start visiting the disturbing
crime scenes. However, the case might be over before it even starts.
By
following-up leads, Kildare concludes the Limehouse Golem is most likely one of
three regular patrons of the British Museum’s Reading Room: Karl Marx, George
Gissing, or John Cree. Rather suspiciously, the Golem has not claimed a victim
since popular stage comedienne Lizzie Cree was arrested for poisoning her
husband. Believing she administered some parlor-room justice, Kildare promises to
help her if she will confess and implicate the late John Cree. However, there
is rather more to her lurid past than that, as we learn from a series of death-row
flashbacks.
Watching
Jane Goldman’s largely faithful adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s 1994 novel makes
it clear his Victorian mystery was surprisingly ahead of its time. Indeed, it
has elements of some of the bestselling thrillers from the last four or five
years, but it would be spoilery to explain how.
Perhaps
more importantly, it has Bill Nighy acting wry and world-weary as Inspector
Kildare. This is a case where Nighy’s established persona is so perfectly
suited to the character, he only has to show up. Daniel Mays’ Flood nicely
serves as a street-smart foil to the more cerebral Kildare. Eddie Marsan adds
plenty of era-appropriate color as “Uncle,” the slightly dodgy impresario.
However, the real standout is Douglas Booth as the flamboyant but iron-willed
Dan Leno (a genuine historical figure, presumably no relation to Jay and far
less annoying). Unfortunately, that means Olivia Cooke never really clicks as
Lizzie Cree, falling short of the forceful presence and femme fatale sultriness
the role really needed.