The Talented Mr. Ripley
(1999)











Rated: R
Runtime: 2 Hours and 19 Minutes


Reviewer: Dale
Grade: A-

Whenever something is described as Hitchcockian, that generally means that it takes some of Hitchcock's shots and rips them off. Most of De Palma's films are called "Hitchcockian" for this very reason.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley", however, is Hitchcockian just because it is the sort of story that Hitchcock himself would likely have been drawn to making. It is the sort of tale that Alfred thrived on. And while "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is not quite as good as Old Alfie would have made it be, it is still surprisingly good.... especially after reading Jones's review of it.

Matt Damon plays Tom Ripley, a self-described "Nobody". He is a washroom attendant at a New York hotel. He also plays a mean piano, something he is doing at a party in a Princeton jacket he has borrowed from a friend. Someone at the party notices the jacket and the two of them get to talking. The man asks Ripley if he went to school with the man's son, one Dickie Greenleaf. Tom has never been to Princeton, of course, but in a desire to belong he says that he has.

Soon, the old man is making an offer that nearly anyone would probably have a hard time refusing. He asks Tom to venture to Italy, find his son, and lure him home. Tom agrees and goes to Italy.

Enter Dickie.

Dickie is a cool guy, in Tom's eyes at any rate. He has a beautiful girlfriend, he attends plenty of parties, he does a lot of sailing and, in short, he has a pretty enviable life. Tom soon grows addicted to it. Before long, Tom finds that he would do anything to keep in Dickie's confidence and be part of his circle of friends.

Anything.

From there, Tom spins a complicated web of deceit. He poses as other people, he forges, he does a lot of lying and he even does some killing. I must say that Tom Ripley is one of the more disturbing sociopaths in recent film, and that is all due to Matt Damon's expert performance. He got raves for playing, well, a little prick who happens to be a genius in "Good Will Hunting" but I barely heard anything about him here. Which is too bad, because this is the sort of performance that made a star out of Anthony Perkins in a certain Hitchcock movie. It is subtle, nuanced, and very natural. Matt does a good job of sinking into this role, and both drawing sympathy and chills from us at the same time. It is disturbing, in fact, just how on top of things Tom Ripley is. There isn't a situation that he doesn't seem to have a way out of, even when his lies threaten to do him in.

This movie does a superb job of conveying just how delicate a thing a web of deceit can be.
It also illustrates that murder is like Lays Potato Chips. When you've done one, it often becomes necessary to do another one.

There is some truly beautiful footage of Italy here. This movie is probably going to help more than a couple people plan their vacations. Every actor in this film does a good job, with the exception, perhaps, of the overrated Miss Paltrow. I honestly cannot see what all the fuss is about her. She isn't doing anything that a dozen other Hollywood actresses aren't capable of doing. But other than her, it's uniformly excellent on the acting front. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Philip Baker Hall both turn in the usual assured performances (showing why they have been in just about every movie nominated for an Oscar this year, between this and "Magnolia" they seem to be carpooling to their gigs).

But, all in all, this is a very intriguing thriller which draws one in with its surefooted performances and beautiful scenery. The atmosphere of this movie is chilling and decadent and really sells the idea of how Tom could want to invade this man's life. It's a fascinating film that, although not as good as it might have been in the hands of someone like Hitch, is still very absorbing thanks to the work of the talented Mr. Damon.



Reviewer: Jones
Grade: C-


There is a point in this movie where Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) says that he always thought it "would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody." After seeing this film I feel that, that is an accurate way to describe the movie itself. It seems more content to pretend to be some sort of grand spectacle in the realm of film than owning up to how decidedly average it really is.

It is the story of a guy by the name of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) and the man (Matt Damon) who would like nothing more in the world than to become him.

After his son has been away to Italy for an extended period of time, Dickie's father sends Tom Ripley, a former classmate of Dickie's, to Italy in order to convince his son to come back to the United States. When Tom arrives in Italy, he quickly makes the acquaintance of Dickie and his ladyfriend Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow). He befriends the two of them and begins modelling himself after Dickie. Once the plan to get Dickie to go back home fails, things fall apart with Tom eventually killing Dickie. Tom then continually flip-flops between being Tom and being Dickie.

That's about all that is necessary to say about the plot in terms of content. The film has a couple of key problem areas. One..... It has nothing to say.....and....Two. It moves at a snail's pace. Wait a minute. That may be an injustice to snails all around the world. Let's, instead, liken it to the pace of a glacier. The film does absolutely nothing for the first hour. If you were to feel for a pulse you would feel nothing, as this film has no heart to speak of.
After Dickie gets done away with, the film's pace accelerates to the level of a turtle that is high on angel dust, which (if you can't tell) isn't too terribly fast at all. I have no problem with a slow film (I love "Eyes Wide Shut" for Christ's sake!), but please let's have a bit of a story to keep me awake during the considerable downtime that is prevalent in this film.

The only reasons I grade it as highly as a "C-" are that it is, at times, shot beautifully and it does have it's moments of brilliance. Problem is, these moments only seem to come around every forty-five minutes or so. Hardly the makings of the masterpiece I was hoping/expecting to see after all of the praise that surrounded this film at Oscar time.

If you have seen the trailer for this movie, then you have pretty much seen the movie. The only scenes that have any real impact are in the trailer for the most part. On a side note, I must say that Cate Blanchett does a wonderful job in a role with limited screentime. Perhaps, if she had been given more time, she could have made this movie a real somebody, rather than the fake somebody that it inevitably ends up becoming as it meanders along it's way to the two hour mark and beyond.

Unfortunately, after a promising premise, this film falls flat. In watching this film, I felt nothing for the characters. There were times when they looked happy, and times when they looked sad. That was nice and all, but I just didn't find myself caring for anyone at any point during the proceedings. Gwyneth's crying? Big surprise... Wait. Let me get my Kleenex. Matt's being a pompous bitch? Another big surprise. Just once I would like to see him bring life to a role that doesn't involve arrogance coupled with a shrivelled little pansy on the inside.
Jude...... You did a good job. I still didn't care about what happened to your character, but you did good, because I think you had the one character that I wasn't supposed to give a shit about.

Bland, boring and presumptuous are all terms that can be applied in describing "The Talented Mr. Ripley". This film is a lot like a blind date. In theory, alluring and intriguing, but in reality an utter disappointment that will not be revisited anytime soon.

This bitch just flatlined.................