THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
"I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody," Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) says in his most revealing line of the Hitchcockean tale, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, by writer/director Anthony Minghella (THE ENGLISH PATIENT). Tom, an almost accidental killer, is the hero of the story.
It all starts when Tom, pretending to be a Princeton grad, meets Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn). Herbert likes Tom and thinks he's just the man to go to Italy to bring back Herbert's wayward son, Dickie (Jude Law). Accepting Herbert's $1,000, the innocent, well-scrubbed Tom is off on his big assignment to Europe. The film, which could as easily have been ironically titled AN INNOCENT ABROAD, follows Tom as he quickly moves up in the world.
With his milk white skin and nerdy glasses, Tom stands out on the beach among the bronzed bodies of the idle rich in Italy. Law (GATTACA), who looks like a Greek god, is perfectly cast as a guy who fully intends to live the rest of his life on his father's money.
Set in 1958, the movie's lush color palate makes it look like it was filmed back then. John Seale's inviting cinematography gives the picture a travelogue gloss. But with creepy music reminiscent of an old thriller and with the sinister events of the story, you may have second thoughts about your initial inclination to leave the theater to book your seat on the next flight out.
Using his newfound knowledge and love of jazz, Tom becomes bosom buddies with Dickie, a saxophone player. Soon Tom, Dickie and Dickie's fiancée, Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), become inseparable. Not only does Damon play out of character as a sociopath, Paltrow too renounces her usually tougher roles for the part of a vulnerable woman who becomes trapped in the center of a whirlwind that she doesn't understand. All of the acting is superb, but it is Damon's Oscar quality work that stands out the most.
Dickie says that everyone has one talent (Marge's is making the best martinis) and asks Tom what his is. With deceptive honesty, he replies, "forging signatures, telling lies and impersonating other people." Truer words were never spoken.
Dickie grows to love Tom, but Tom is fickle. As Marge explains, his attention is like the sun. When it's on you, you feel warm and happy, and, when it isn't, you're cold.
Most of the surprising story, based on a Patricia Highsmith's novel, has Tom realizing just how good his impersonation skills are. In a wonderfully nuanced performance, Damon reveals much while seeming to reveal little about Tom. Some of the twists in the plot are obvious but many aren't. The surprises are delicately presented with subtlety being the story's trademark. Tom doesn't plan most of his nefarious activities, and the movie has that same easy naturalness as if the story just unfolds organically rather than being tightly scripted.
The talented cast includes Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman as two other Americans in Italy who find themselves caught up in Tom's complicated web. Philip Baker Hall plays a tough, no nonsense private investigator. "I don't care for BS," he says coldly. "I don't care to speak it. I don't care to hear it."
"You never meet anybody who thinks they're a bad person," Tom says perceptively. Certainly Tom doesn't see anything wrong with his actions. He has no regrets. And the subversive show has us rooting for him all along the way. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY may be an odd and disquieting choice for a holiday release, but it is nevertheless a fascinating one.
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY runs 2:15. It is rated R for violence, language and brief male full-frontal nudity and would be fine for most teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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