The Talented Mr. Ripley

12/25/19992h 20m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ How far would you go to become someone else. ~

Overview:

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$40,000,000.00

Revenue:

$128,798,265.00

Key words:

new york city
friendship
ship
new love
lovesickness
jealousy
dual identity
double life
based on novel or book
venice, italy
beguilement
italy
homicide
yacht
secret identity
atlantic ocean
new identity
prosecution
fake identity
rejection
inferiority
inferiority complex
wealth
male homosexuality
envy
shocking
identity theft
complex
gay theme
intense
distressing
frightened

Cast

Matt Damon

~ as ~

Tom Ripley

Gwyneth Paltrow

~ as ~

Marge Sherwood

Jude Law

~ as ~

Dickie Greenleaf

Cate Blanchett

~ as ~

Meredith Logue

Philip Seymour Hoffman

~ as ~

Freddie Miles

Jack Davenport

~ as ~

Peter Smith-Kingsley

James Rebhorn

~ as ~

Herbert Greenleaf

Sergio Rubini

~ as ~

Inspector Roverini

Philip Baker Hall

~ as ~

Alvin MacCarron

Celia Weston

~ as ~

Aunt Joan

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
With his son off galavanting around Europe, the wealthy "Greenleaf" (James Rebhorn) happens upon the eponymous character (Matt Damon) whom he charges with travelling - first class - to track down "Dickie" (Jude Law) and bring him home. He manages an introduction to his quarry, and his girlfriend "Marge" (Gwyneth Paltrow), on an Italian riviera beach and suggesting they'd both gone to Princeton, manages to inveigle an invitation to lunch. Now "Tom" has done his research here. he knows "Dickie" loves jazz, and so by feigning a recently acquired interest in the music he manages to comprehensively ingratiate himself into their lives. The arrival of their mate "Freddie" (Philip Seymour Hoffmann) manages to unsettle the wealthy man who concludes that he wishes to be rid of his newly acquired parasite. Next thing, well "Dickie" appears to have done his best Greta Garbo "want to be alone" and "Tom" is providing an initial shoulder to cry on for "Marge" before they part company. Now we know what happened, so are not too surprised when we see "Tom" start to live the life he'd always wanted to, he hooks up with "Meredith" (Cate Blanchett) whom he met on the boat over, and a life of fraudulent frolics ensue. As ever, though, one lie is never enough and the reappearance of "Freddie" and a chance meeting with "Marge" at the opera starts to cause problems for "Tom" that only increase when "Greenleaf" arrives wanting to know what the hell is going on... This is one of these characterful mystery dramas that hits the ground running and uses a solid cast to keep the momentum going until a denouement that i felt was just a little too serendipitous but that still works well. Damon is on good form and it's not hard to see why Jude Law made it initially either. Paltrow is underused at the start but does come into her element more as the the plot thickens and by the end there is an enjoyable will he/won't he uncomfortableness about the ending. The photography is classy and stylish illustrating well the scenarios in which these spoilt and malevolent folks find themselves, there's a bit of humour and some cracking jazz to pepper this superior thriller.