A killer, believe it or not

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Performances power thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley
By BRUCE KIRKLAND
Toronto Sun


The effect doesn't linger too long after the end of the movie, but
the classy psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley is a
twisted, taut and terrifying experience while it lasts.

The story moves relentlessly -- if slowly and for a protracted
time. We are kept perched nervously in taut expectation, which is
the state of suspense all thrillers yearn for. The film opens
tomorrow.

The creepy chill that really makes The Talented Mr. Ripley stand
out is that it is character- and not plot-driven and its villain
is an 'everyman' type, not talented at much.

He is average in looks and brainpower and charm and sex appeal and
pretty much everything else young people hold in esteem when their
hormones are raging. Especially young rich people. Mr. Ripley is a
pretender, a wannabe, a poor kid looking for an entree into a
rarified la dolce vita world.

His entree is crime. So Mr. Ripley's blood-curdling story -- the
guy is a sociopath -- is one of those situations where saner men
can shake their heads and go: "There but for the grace of God, and
the work of the Devil, go I!"

Director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), who also adapted
Patricia Highsmith's novel to the screen, indulged in ingenious
casting to pull this off. His Ripley is Matt Damon, a Hollywood
pretty boy with a dirty down-side that cuts through the boyish
thing and turns him dangerous. There is a touch of desperation in
his eyes too.

From the opening frame in The Talented Mr. Ripley, you don't trust
him. The question is not whether he will go bad, but why and
precisely how. The portrayal of Ripley as a sociopath is less
obvious in the movie than in the book. At the same time, the
homoerotic tones are pushed further on screen.

The story, set primarily in Rome and sun-drenched seaside towns in
Italy in the late 1950s -- so this movie looks good -- chronicles
how Ripley is hired by a rich kid's father to hunt his son down to
persuade him to return to New York.

It's not going to be easy. The son (mercurial Jude Law captures
the character's unfocussed nature to perfection) would rather chase
skirts, play jazz and spend his father's money.

Complicating Ripley's assignment are the other wild cards involved
with the target son -- as well as his own lies.

One card is the son's sultry girlfriend (Gwyneth Paltrow, the
movie's weakest link, is a piece of expensive furniture in a movie
that is already dressed up prettily enough).

The other is the raging lunatic of a best friend (Philip Seymour
Hoffman in yet another cutting edge, guts-out, no-holds-barred
performance that re-inforces him as a rising character actor with
De Niro potential).

Another catalyst is the character played by Cate Blanchett (of
Elizabeth fame). As just another little rich girl wasting her
parents' money, she is hardly seen, but has a huge impact.

No one should mistake The Talented Mr. Ripley for a killer version
of The English Patient, one of the great romantic movies of the
decade and a movie that does linger. But it still can creep you
out big time, as a thriller should. Go if you dare.

(This film is rated AA)