Miscast and too-pretty, `Ripley's' still admirable

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By Elvis Mitchell
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Published: 12/24/99


Matt Damon, with his All-American go-getter's intensity, is often
reminiscent of the young Tom Cruise, but with a greater emotional
range. (Even the grin, pulled across an endless expanse of teeth,
is similar.) On the face of it, he seems perfect for Anthony
Minghella's adaptation of `The Talented Mr. Ripley,' about a young
man who sticks himself onto the side of the American upper crust
like a piece of Silly Putty -- slightly tacky but with the ability
to pull away a remarkable resemblance. In that respect, he's all
talent -- and eagerness -- without direction, both Nick Carraway
and Jay Gatsby rolled into one.

A pair of wealthy New Yorkers hires Ripley to track down their son,
who's living in Italy and squandering his life. Ripley uses the
sinuous bop of 1950s hipster jazz to slip into the world of the son
(Jude Law) and his girlfriend (Gwyneth Paltrow). The selection of
jazz gives `Ripley' some juice. Particularly the use of the music
of Chet Baker, whose effeminate good looks, tendency to flirt with
the wrong side of the law and almost reflexive ability to exploit
those around him made the singer-trumpeter seem like a real live
version of Tom Ripley. (Perhaps that's why Damon can be heard
imitating Baker's version of `My Funny Valentine' on the soundtrack.)
Minghella's interest in burrowing into the heart of romantic love
adds an element of honest sentiment, too.

Novelist Patricia Highsmith's amoral cruiser Tom Ripley has been
brought to the screen before. The book, which was also used as the
source material for the French film `Purple Noon,' is all about
appetites. In the book and in `Purple Noon,' there is a teasing
undercurrent of homoeroticism. But rather than dance around the gay
element, Minghella `(The English Patient)' chooses to be far more
explicit with fabric that was woven in more subtly in previous
versions.

Taking on this role is a sign of Damon's ambition -- almost a neon
sign. His Ripley feels a little unformed, despite Minghella's
filling in the blanks. It's audacious of Damon to set his reputation
on its ear like this. He's working out the character in front of us,
which dispels the vague chill of the original material (and `Purple
Noon' ). But this also makes the center of the movie feel not quite
worked out.

As a result, the movie might have been better served had the roles
been reversed. Law, boneless and `soi-disant,' would've been a
perfect Tom Ripley. He's bulked up here, physically and spiritually,
to play the coarse, spoiled American who gets his comeuppance at the
hands of the man who loved him not wisely, but too well. It would
have been just as daring for Damon to play a charismatic, landed-
gentry jerk made oblivious by old money.

`Ripley' suffers from another American problem. It's all-that
gorgeous. In fact, it's a little too lush, lost in the glaze of
production design, and it bogs down in an impersonal prettiness.
It's odd to see a tense, tight psychological story with noir
elements given the arty/epic treatment, glamorized to within a
centimeter of its life. But it's an admirable effort.

`The Talented Mr. Ripley' is rated R for violence, adult language
and situations. The Talented Mr. Ripley HH1/2