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

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


The last movie I reviewed was Milos Forman's "Man on the Moon."
Jim Carrey fabulously portrayed the mysterious comedian Andy
Kaufman as a character who was a master at becoming anything
but himself. Due to the ambuguity of Kaufman's persona, people
were forced to make up for themselves who he actually was. "The
Talented Mr. Ripley's" Tom Ripley is a character with the same
chameleon-like ability of transforming himself into whatever he
pleases. However, he does not let those he encounters decide who
he is, instead he judges for himself what people should believe
and know. Although Kaufman and Ripley are quite similar, the
movies they star in are far from that. While "Man on the Moon"
relies on the comedic talents of Carrey to entertain the
audience, "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a grim analysis of
civilization in the 1950's which contains elements of trust and
deception. When these two adjectives go together in the
description of a film, it is expected that tragic chaos will
erupt from the combination and strong feelings will develop for
the victims and doers. The result of Anthony Minghella's
masterpiece is certainly that as eruptions frequently occur
during the fabulously suspenseful plot. The film throws its
audience around with unique plot twists during every scene
creating a thrilling unpredictable atmosphere.

The story follows the adventures of Tom Ripley (played
chillingly well by Matt Damon) who finds himself on a journey to
Italy where he is being paid to try to convince a young man,
Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law in a breakthrough performance) to
return to America. Once he arrives, Ripley finds he is greatly
attracted to Greenleaf's style of life. He becomes so obsessed
with Greenleaf that eventually his desires take over his
morality. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a presentation of several
classes from the snobby, selfish rich American to lower class
Italians. Its wide range of analysis rather than just on Ripley
makes it more interesting and disturbing in how social structure
creates people. However, Ripley's obsession is the central point
and for good reason. This villain is very unique because the
majority of the public watching the movie can relate to him more
than any other character. We all know that what he is doing is
sick and wrong but for some reason we understand why he is doing
it. Bonding with Ripley is what makes the film so frightening.

Both the script and the directing are responsible for non stop
tension. The dialogue written by Minghella is so fresh and
engaging that the film's 160 minute running time seems to fly
right by. When one segment of the film begins to drag on too
long, the film quickly shifts to a newer, fresher scene. Some
very memorable lines and some clever sexual references make this
one of the best scripts written this year, if not this decade.
The directing also is flawless. Minghella was most likely
influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, from his "Psycho"-like format
for the opening credits to his very effective ability of
spinning the camera to a point of near dizziness like that of
"Vertigo." Minghella shows that without special effects a film
can still be frightening.

Anthony Minghella utilizes the skills of each actor (most of
them Academy Award winners) perfectly. Damon is superb as
Ripley. Hidden behind some thick glasses, he looks harmless but
once he is overtaken by desire his face completely transforms
to a harsh coldness. Jude Law, who has given some decent
supporting performances in films such as "eXitenZ" and
"Gattaca", takes a surprisingly perfect turn as Dickie
Greenleaf. As a snobby, rich kid who hates America, its hard to
like him but it's even harder to hate him and to see him suffer
from Ripley's wrath. His performance was accurate in creating
mixed emotions for his character. Gwyneth Paltrow was also
great as Greenleaf's suspicious girlfriend, Marge. Marge starts
off a bit slow and underdeveloped but as the film continues
Paltrow is given the chance to bloom and she does. Other
supporting actors also contribute their talents such as Philip
Seymour Hoffman as one of Greenleaf's friends. Hoffman is
beginning to dominate Hollywood as he appears in three movies
currently out in theaters and thanks to his talents gives three
great performances.

The script, the direction, the acting; all are top notch in
this thriller that plays with your mind by playing with the
characters' minds. From the very first scene to the very last,
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is perfection.