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Anthony Minghella's follow-up to his Oscar-winning adaptation of The English Patient is a stylish Hitchcockian thriller that is as beautiful as it is creepy. Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel of the same name, The Talented Mr. Ripley stars a hunky teen heartthrob (Matt Damon) as a homosexual sociopath with murderous tendencies. Hardly sounds like Christmas fare (which is probably why the gay angle is missing from the film's trailer), but Ripley will indeed be released on December 25th to a largely unsuspecting public.
Damon (Dogma) stars as Tom Ripley, a struggling New York City piano tuner that, thanks to some lucky timing and a borrowed blazer, ends up being offered a short-term, high-paying job. Ripley will receive $1,000 to go to Europe and persuade the son of a shipping magnate to return home in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. So he brushes up on his Italian and heads for the sun-drenched Mediterranean.
His target – called Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law, eXistenZ) – is a spoiled wild-child whose primary talent seems to be spending his allowance. (Why his pop doesn't just cut Dickie off remains a mystery.) Dickie frequents jazz clubs, cheats on his novelist fiancée Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love) and has no intention of returning to the U.S. or to his father's business. Although the pasty-white Ripley has trouble fitting in amongst the well-to-do bronze gods at first, he eventually wins their approval by doing a dead-on impression of Dickie's father. But Ripley only has one dress shirt and a ratty corduroy jacket, so Dickie lets him borrow some of his threads and plants in his underprivileged underling the idea to take over Dickie's identity. As Ripley says, `I'd rather be a fake somebody than a real nobody,' and he shows that he would go to any lengths to realize this dream.
The story may sound familiar to you because it was already made into a film in 1960 (Miramax re-released it in the U.S. a few years back). This original version, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), starred Alain Delon in the title role and seemed both to gloss over the whole gay twist and give the film a considerably more upbeat ending. But this is 1999 and films have changed a lot in those intervening four decades. Among other upgrades from the ‘60s adaptation are two extra murders and a brand-new character (Cate Blanchett, An Ideal Husband). There are a number of other differences, but revealing them would give away too much of the plot.
Damon is spectacular as the spine-chilling chameleon Ripley. I always thought his acting chops were a bit overrated, but with this role he establishes himself as one of the better young actors in Hollywood. Law is entirely believable as a snooty rich-boy, but Paltrow is just annoying. She's probably a snooty rich-girl in real life and didn't know how to approach the idea of playing herself. Most enjoyable perhaps is Philip Seymour Hoffman (Flawless), who plays a friend of Dickie's in a manner that will remind you of a young Thurston Howell III. His blood is so blue it looks like he's choking.
Complementing Damon's performance is a top-notch production team (including four Oscar winners from The English Patient) that captures a strikingly beautiful ‘50s Italy. The film is aglow with bright, sunny color, the water is always blue (even in the bathtub), and you can almost smell the combination of olive oil and body odor in the street scenes. Minghella's direction is simply gorgeous, using spellbinding camera work that would make Hitchcock proud. Ironically, Hitchcock used Highsmith's first novel, Strangers on a Train, to make one of his finest films.
Ripley's ending may not please everyone (in fact, it caused a lot of groans during my screening), but it's faithful to Highsmith's book, which spawned four sequels over a thirty-eight-year period. The third, `Ripley's Game,' was made into a 1977 Wim Wenders film called American Friend that starred - get this - Dennis Hopper in the title role. Consider that alternative if you gripe about this film.
2:18 - R for violence, adult language and brief nudity
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