Alternate Best Actor 1979: Malcolm McDowell in Time After Time

Malcolm McDowell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying H.G. Wells in Time After Time. 

Time After Time follows H.G. Wells attempting to stop Jack the Ripper through time. A true breath of fresh of air of film as enjoyable entertainment even with its final scene that has a bit of dud element regarding Jack's final fate. Although this was unquestionably helped by a dire triple feature I suffered of Caligula, more on that in a bit, Natural Enemies, one of the most miserable, repetitive and just mean spirited films that is best avoided by all, and 1941, which is almost fascinating in its particular failure however not enough to make it any less of a slog. 

Anyway back to Time After Time which is a low key entertainment, that opens basically the same as Murder by Decree as we see Jack the Ripper stalking victims though this time making his escape via going to a dinner party held by H.G. Wells who in this universe just finished inventing a time machine. McDowell playing a unique role for both playing not only a decent man but in fact a hero as the central protagonist here, but also playing a rather modest fellow. This is a far cry from his other noted work as the infamous Caligula in the infamous film Caligula. A film that would be best used by abstinence training facilities to ward individuals off from ever having sex again, as never has sex, nudity and eroticism in general come off as less appealing as in Caligula. If you want to ensure no one is turned on in a given situation, just watch Caligula, of course that is essentially the opposite of seemingly its intention. The film has little else to note except its attempts a debauchery as it barely has what one would describe as a story, and characters are almost all one note sex fiends of one kind or another. McDowell is the best part of the film, as opposed to Peter O'Toole who just may be the highest actor ever recorded on film and I'm not referring to his distance as positioned from the earth, or John Gielgud who almost is comical in that he is bringing a more traditional attempt at gravitas. McDowell understands the film he's in, and is trying to bring something to it. He has a nice deranged smile throughout it all, and probably that's the best way to go, as one would have to be deranged to have agreed to be in that production it seems. So that energy McDowell brings does work, and again also works for the nature of Caligula in the film as the most depraved man in existence essentially. Again though the writing is atrocious so basically McDowell just needs to float from scene to scene being either sexually deranged, violently deranged or violently deranged while being sexual. McDowell does this as well as to be expected however he can't quite pave away beyond the garbage dump that is around him. He's good to the extent the film allows him to be, but the film isn't interested in Caligula as a character, it's just interested in whatever grotesqueries they decided he got up to. 

Anyway back to his absolutely wonderful work in Time After Time that is far cry from his work in Caligula in basically every way imaginable. McDowell's work here is remarkable because it is so anti-McDowell, in a performance that not only asks him to be subdued, but also demands specific charm from him rather than say the charisma we typically get here. McDowell from his first appearance presents us with a most affable Wells, with this quiet earnestness he brings as he speaks of his new invention. It is with a slight smile but even a bit of shyness that McDowell shows someone who hesitates to even speak of his accomplishments too openly. There is a sincerity in his eyes though as he presents them and even speaks towards his lack of bravery in regards to testing the machine out. He makes one instantly like his Wells though as this intelligent but very unlikely hero for us to follow. He takes from the respected author to making him an underdog to root for with incredible ease. The task of hero is then thrust upon him when his dinner guest turns out to be none other than Jack the Ripper who escapes via Wells's time machine, leaving Wells needing to do the same, leading him to find himself within San Francisco in 1979. Here in a way is where we get the secret weapon of the film, and really of McDowell's performance, as we follow Wells as he attempts to navigate the future. This as we have a whole secondary film really as we follow Wells as he discovers this new world of phones, televisions, automobiles and McDonalds. McDowell is terrific by bringing this sense of discovery in his performance as even reacting to french fries or a McDonald's bench, there is this honest sense of curiosity that he brings. McDowell touches upon it with the right comedic sense, he doesn't overplay it to the point of caveman, but brings the right touches of humor in the moments of Wells's lack of certainty with the various new inventions. I have particular affection for the way McDowell speaks towards every phone as though it were a distant loudspeaker. McDowell awkwardness manages to be funny while also making Wells most endearing. In this whole setup McDowell creates so much of the entertainment of the film by realizing this fun naturally as Wells is truly a man out of time trying to figure things out. He makes that right sense of discovery both in disbelief and just a little bit of proper humorousness in just showing the man being out of his depth. 

The situation gets complicated when Wells comes across a bank teller Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen), who takes a liking to him. Again this is such a different side to McDowell who typically on screen has less savory relationships with women more often than not. This is a great change of pace for him as McDowell is winning in providing just the sweetest of charm in his chemistry with Steenburgen. McDowell has a great naturalism in projecting the modest in his show of love with her that is most appealing, even if Steenburgen's performance makes me very confused as I go from randomly from thinking she's just a unique presence to terrible from moment to moment. Nonetheless the two create the proper investment in their chemistry that is off-beat in the right way with McDowell showing Wells always to be very much the man of his time navigating the modern woman with these terrific expressions of amusement, confusion and positive fascination. This in turn raises the stakes as Wells attempts to stop Jack who has no trouble jumping head first back into his murdering ways in the 70's. McDowell is fantastic in every moment of these scenes because his avenue is so idiosyncratic. In that he is never a simple hero, and take any moment there's much to be taken from it from sort of the left field choices in his work that are always absolutely winning. Take his light comic timing when Wells attempts to convince the local police to help him by giving Sherlock Holmes as his pseudonym. Even in the way he runs, or operates a telephone booth, McDowell brings the right uncertainty and less than capable power to a man just trying his best in a theater that is far from his expertise. He's equally good though in showing his reactions of horror towards Jack, where the power within McDowell's emotional breakdowns is that of a wholly decent man suffering greatly from witnessing the worst of humanity. McDowell gives a very moving performance in these moments and adds an extra bit of gravitas to the proceedings. Of course that is the truth of the entirety of McDowell's work here, which is always adding a bit extra to the point I think his performance is really what makes the film work. It could've been easy to make Wells too much of a cartoon, or too much of a stiff, but McDowell finds the right tonal balance to make a hero you want to see succeed in love, against the ripper, and also have just some fun watching as he struggles to operate a telephone.