The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

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By Robert Payne


Though it's based on the same Patricia Highsmith novel as Rene
Clement's masterpiece Purple Noon, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a
thoroughly original work. Stylish, moody, and atmospheric as all
hell, Anthony Minghella's new film doesn't fall easily into
categorization, let alone into the mold of the traditional
Hollywood suspense flick. Many moviegoers will feel severely
misled by its trailer — the movie advertised there is very
different from what you end up experiencing. The preview audience
was clearly divided: half found it pretentious and frustrating
nonsense, the other a stunning spellbinder. This reviewer falls
into the enchanted second group: I thought The Talented Mr. Ripley
was a quietly disturbing, visually dazzling anomaly.

Set in the 1950s, the story follows Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) who is
hired by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) to bring
his playboy son Dickie (Jude Law) back to the United States. The
gregarious, devil-may-care Dickie has been leading a reckless,
wildly bohemian existence in Italy — a carefree lifestyle of boozy,
jazz-infused nights, uninhibited sexual encounters, and lazy
afternoons soaking up the sun on gorgeous Mediterranean beaches. But
as the unstable (to put it mildly) Ripley, the only "corduroy jacket
in Italy," becomes increasingly seduced by Dickie's wonderfully
decadent surroundings — and by Dickie himself — his priorities
change dramatically. Soon he is plotting to make Dickie's
intoxicating world his own. As Ripley himself says, "Better to be a
fake somebody than a real nobody."

Combining breathtaking cinematography (John Seale, City of Angels),
gorgeous art direction (Roy Walker, Eyes Wide Shut), and a brooding
score (Oscar-winning composer Gabriel Yared) with a glittering
assortment of performers from the Miramax stable of stars, Minghella
has fashioned an epic, ultra-glamorous portrait of a sociopathic
killer. And it's this juxtaposition of the creepy subject matter
with sumptuous production values that makes Ripley so unusual and
unsettling — It's like doing the Jeffrey Dahmer story in the
sweeping, romantic style of Henry and June. Amazingly, Minghella
pulls off this provocative blend, making it fly thanks primarily to
the enormous talents of his entire cast and crew, and his own subtle
screenplay.

Though slightly miscast, Matt Damon triumphs in the very difficult
title role, easily the most challenging of his career. Lacking the
icy charisma that Alain Delon brought to Ripley in Purple Noon,
Damon's angelic face, boyish persona, and movie-star smile are n
onetheless effectively exploited by Minghella, who uses the actor's
all-American features to terrifying advantage. Together, the actor
and director succeed valiantly in molding a multidimensional portrait
of a deeply disturbed, homicidal antihero.

The best performance in the film, however, undoubtedly belongs to
Jude Law, who brings golden vitality and magnetism to the proceedings.
Sexy and alive, Law supplies the real heat in Ripley and this film
will finally make him a star. Movie princess Gwyneth Paltrow is also
effective, contributing a genuine performance for a change as Dickie's
increasingly suspicious girlfriend Marge Sherwood. And casting Cate
Blanchett as Meredith Logue, the nervous, polar opposite of the
refined Marge, may have been obvious but it's still riveting to watch
as the two actresses' spiral closer and closer into each other's
universes. Also particularly effective is Philip Seymour Hoffman,
perfectly piggish as Dickie's snotty friend Freddie Miles.

More than just a worthy follow-up to his Oscar darling The English
Patient, Minghella has made a film that is much more intriguing than
his previous effort; a film that people will discuss long after
they've left the theater. Absorbing, unique, and genuinely haunting,
The Talented Mr. Ripley is easily one of the best films of the year.