http://www.atnzone.com/moviezone/reviews/talentedripley.shtml

Jon Popick
@N-Zone Magazine. c 1999 All reviews contained above are
copyrighted by it's individual authors and may not be
reproduced without their permission.


Anthony Minghella’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning adaptation
of The English Patient is a stylish Hitchcockian thriller that
is as beautiful as it is creepy. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s
novel of the same name, The Talented Mr. Ripley stars a hunky
teen heartthrob (Matt Damon) as a homosexual sociopath with
murderous tendencies. Hardly sounds like Christmas fare (which
is probably why the gay angle is missing from the film’s
trailer), but Ripley will indeed be released on December 25th
to a largely unsuspecting public.

Damon (Dogma) stars as Tom Ripley, a struggling New York City
piano tuner that, thanks to some lucky timing and a borrowed
blazer, ends up being offered a short-term, high-paying job.
Ripley will receive $1,000 to go to Europe and persuade the
son of a shipping magnate to return home in time for the
Thanksgiving holiday. So he brushes up on his Italian and
heads for the sun-drenched Mediterranean.

His target – called Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law, eXistenZ) –
is a spoiled wild-child whose primary talent seems to be
spending his allowance. (Why his pop doesn’t just cut Dickie
off remains a mystery.) Dickie frequents jazz clubs, cheats on
his novelist fiancee Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in
Love) and has no intention of returning to the U.S. or to his
father’s business. Although the pasty-white Ripley has trouble
fitting in amongst the well-to-do bronze gods at first, he
eventually wins their approval by doing a dead-on impression of
Dickie’s father.

But Ripley only has one dress shirt and a ratty corduroy jacket,
so Dickie lets him borrow some of his threads and plants in his
underprivileged underling the idea to take over Dickie’s
identity. As Ripley says, "I’d rather be a fake somebody than a
real nobody," and he shows that he would go to any lengths to
realize this dream.

The story may sound familiar to you because it was already made
into a film in 1960 (Miramax re-released it in the U.S. a few
 years back).

This original version, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), starred Alain
Delon in the title role and seemed both to gloss over the whole
gay twist and give the film a considerably more upbeat ending.
But this is 1999 and films have changed a lot in those
intervening four decades. Among other upgrades from the ‘60s
adaptation are two extra murders and a brand-new character (Cate
Blanchett, An Ideal Husband). There are a number of other
differences, but revealing them would give away too much of the
plot.

Damon is spectacular as the spine-chilling chameleon Ripley. I
always thought his acting chops were a bit overrated, but with
this role he establishes himself as one of the better young
actors in Hollywood. Law is entirely believable as a snooty
rich-boy, but Paltrow is just annoying. She’s probably a snooty
rich-girl in real life and didn’t know how to approach the idea
of playing herself. Most enjoyable perhaps is Philip Seymour
Hoffman (Flawless), who plays a friend of Dickie’s in a manner
that will remind you of a young Thurston Howell III. His blood
is so blue it looks like he’s choking.

Complementing Damon’s performance is a top-notch production
team (including four Oscar winners from The English Patient)
that captures a strikingly beautiful ‘50s Italy. The film is
aglow with bright, sunny color, the water is always blue (even
in the bathtub), and you can almost smell the combination of
olive oil and body odor in the street scenes. Minghella’s
direction is simply gorgeous, using spellbinding camera work
that would make Hitchcock proud. Ironically, Hitchcock used
Highsmith’s first novel, Strangers on a Train, to make one of
his finest films.

Ripley’s ending may not please everyone (in fact, it caused a
lot of groans during my screening), but it’s faithful to
Highsmith’s book, which spawned four sequels over a thirty-
eight-year period. The third, "Ripley’s Game," was made into
a 1977 Wim Wenders film called American Friend that starred -
get this - Dennis Hopper in the title role. Consider that
alternative if you gripe about this film.