The Talented Mr. Ripley


Starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, James Rebhorn, Jack Davenport, Stefania Rocca, Sergio Rubini, Philip Baker Hall. Written and Directed by Anthony Minghella.

Tom Ripley fills in for a friend by playing the piano at a swanky 1950's New York party. The very rich host is shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (Rebhorn). He spots the Princeton jacket Tom's wearing (which he borrowed) and mentions that his son Dickie (Law) is living in a villa on the beach in sunny southern Italy. Herbert offers $1000 spending money if Tom will go to Italy and persuade his son to return home by Thanksgiving. Tom, living in a noisy New York dive, jumps at the chance. On the way over, he meets an upper class American named Meridith (Blanchett), introducing himself to her as Dickie. He likes the feeling when his name impresses her. When he arrives, he spots Dickie lying on the beach with his American girlfriend Marge (Paltrow). He pretends they were friends at Princeton. Dickie can't remember Tom, but he invites him over for dinner. Soon, Tom, Dickie and Marge are the best of friends, sailing and playing together. Tom, who studied up on jazz before he came to Italy knowing Dickie loved jazz, accompanies Dickie to jazz clubs and festivals.

But paradise soon begins to turn sour. A friend of Dickie's Freddy (Hoffman) arrives on the scene. Contempuous of Tom's cushy setup, he monopolizes Dickie for a few days, much to Tom's resentment. A local woman drowns herself in the bay, a woman Tom had noticed Dickie had been friendly with behind Marge's back. It turns out she was pregnant. Soon, Dickie turns up missing and Marge can never locate him. Other bodies turn up missing or dead. But who is behind these unexplainable events?

Evoking memories of Hitchcock, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a well-crafted murder-mystery of an ambitious boy living in squalor desperate enough to do anything to maintain the new-found leisure lifestyle he has tasted. Tom Ripley is ambitious. He works in the men's room at a New York hotel, and just oozes desire and hustle for tips. When Tom arrives in Italy, he decides he wants Dickie's life. While the film's trailer suggests Ripley want's Dickie's life because he secretly covets Marge, the film plays up a homosexual theme. First Tom makes an awkward play for Dickie while playing chess in the bathtub, then he later successfully charms a friend of Marge's named Peter (Davenport). Tom rhetorically asks whether it's "better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody", but he's already made up his mind. The beautiful Italian seaside, the magnificent Forum and Spanish stairs in Rome, the canals of Venice and the clubs of San Remo are beautifully filmed, and a fabulous promotion for Italian tourism.

The performances of the cast are strong throughout. Law perfectly captures the pampered, vain rich boy who resents his father's money and shipping business, but is only too happy to spend daddy's money on a lazy, self-indulgent lifestyle. Blanchett captures the mood of these spoiled rich kids, saying she despises her parents' money but is quite willing to spend her allowance as a form of protest, and that she is friends with the rest in her circle because they all share the same view of their parents' wealth. Hoffman is superb as the chunky, arrogant brat who doesn't like or trust Tom. Damon is practically in every scene, and his bland, eager persona works quite well - one would not expect him to be a cold-blooded opportunist. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a well-made film that is likely to satisfy those loving a good mystery.




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