The Talented Mr. Ripley

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A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright c 1999 filmcritic.com


Few enough people know that THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY is based on
Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of the same name. Fewer still know
they already made one movie about Mr. Ripley, a little French number
called PURPLE NOON (1960).

If you happen to be one of a handful who has seen NOON, don't feel
like THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY is retreading old ground. It's actually
different. In fact, it's very different. So much so that with the
exception of a few brief scenes and the overall theme, these two
films could be based on different source material. What's really
astonishing is that both are excellent films.

Tom Ripley (Damon) is introduced innocuously enough. He's a New York
piano player/maintenance worker/bathroom attendant who, after
borrowing a Princeton-crested jacket, suddenly finds himself
propelled to Italy in search of Dickie Greenleaf (Law) at the behest
of Dickie's father (Rebhorn). Tom arrives soon enough, finding Dickie
living the slacker dream, sailing, drinking, and carousing -- when
he's not spending time with steady girl Marge (Paltrow).

Ripley's plan to emulate Dickie is apparent from the start, but it
isn't until free spirit Dickie inevitably pushes the clingy Tom away
that Ripley figures he'll take over Dickie's life altogether. Then
the fun really starts.

Matt Damon plays a sociopath with uncanny -- and quite spooky --
ease. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tom Ripley become a
recurring antihero -- like a Hannibal Lecter should be. Highsmith
wrote five books about Mr. Ripley, so there's plenty of source
material to work from. Sequels or no, Damon is so dead-on scary that
Hollywood likely shudders to be alone with him.

Gwyneth Paltrow, on the other hand, is fairly useless in her role.
For starters, she vacillates between her standby British accent and
her plain-old Gwyneth voice, neither of which really fit her
character. Worse is that she has little to do in the film but often
go hysterical, which doesn't help the movie. Before you Paltrow fans
hit the "Send Hate Mail" button, try not to forget Gwynny's
performance in dogs like A PERFECT MURDER, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, and
HUSH. It's just too bad she had to muck up a perfectly good movie
like this one.

Jude Law and the rest of the supporting cast, particularly Hoffman
as a boorish American friend who shows up midway through the movie,
are good or great. The music, dominated by period (1950's) jazz
songs, is also well-suited for the disturbing thematics of the
movie. And let's not forget director Anthony Minghella (THE ENGLISH
PATIENT), who captures the beauty of Italy while coaxing some great
performances from his actors.

On the sour side, MR. RIPLEY's homosexual themes are awkward at
best, and a few plot points (mainly Ripley setting up his alibi)
seem to have been lost to editing, despite a 2:30 run time. As a
thriller, this may seem long, but the mood is perfect and the film
rarely drags. Altogether, it's a grand psychodrama. Perfect, you
know, for the holidays.