The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Matt Damon, Gwyenth Paltrow, Jude Law, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, Jack Davenport and James Rebhorn. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella.
Tom Ripley's credo is simple: It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.
That drive to shed his own personality and put on the persona of another is the crux of "The Talented Mr. Ripley."
The movie, based on the cult novel by Patricia Highsmith, is an intelligent thriller about a nobody who goes to fatal lengths to become a somebody.
By mistake, piano player-tuner Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is mistaken by shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) as a fellow Harvard graduate of his son, Dickie. Little does Greenleaf know that Tom works as a men's room attendant.
It seems Dickie (Jude Law) does not want to enter the family's shipping business, so he is living and playing in Italy, ignorning his father's entreaties to return home.
Tom is offered $1,000 plus expenses to go to Italy and persuade Dickie to return home.
Instead, Tom falls in love with Dickie's lifestyle, determining that this is the way he wants to live.
But every fairy tale must come to an end, thus it is with Tom and Dickie.
Dickie, who is spoiled, self-centered and a bit cruel, begins tiring of Tom and sends him packing.
Tom and Dickie fight and during the scuffle Dickie is killed.
Thus, Tom flees to Rome where is able to begin a new life as Dickie Greenleaf.
The joy of Oscar-winner Anthony Minghella's movie is watching the webs Tom continually spins, the lies he constantly gets caught in and the way he always extricates himself from the most perilous situations without exposing himself.
Minghella's Ripley differs from Highsmith's in one crucial sense: Minghella's Ripley is not as amoral or cold-blooded as the novel's.
For example, Dickie's death is a spur of the moment crime of passion and rage rather than a calculated act.
In a sense this allows you to feel some sympathy for Ripley, while at the same time you can abhor his actions and immorality.
In Damon's hands, Ripley is a gawky outsider, his nose always pressed against the window, watching the rich play, envying them their position.
Ripley has a few talents, including mimicry and forgery, both which abet him in his quest for the riches he so badly desires.
Damon plays Ripley as a sycophant, a parasitic hanger-on with an air of naivete. He lacks the worldiness and sophistication of those around him. Yet he is always willing and eager to please.
Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow makes a sweet Marge Sherwood, Dickie's fiance. She is warmer, more compassionate than Dickie, opening her arms to the young stranger who latches on them.
Yet after Dickie's disappearance she hardens and becomes determined to uncover the truth.
Minghella has turned the book into a sort of class struggle with Ripley taking whatever extremes necessary to raise himself and remain in a sphere that otherwise would be out of his reach.
Jazz also plays a role in the movie. Tom, a classical pianist, studies and memorizes various jazz works in order to get close to Dickie. And the way Minghella has Damon deliver some of Tom's explanations about events make them sound like jazz riffs as he covers his tracks.
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a very pretty movie, the scenery, sets and costumes covering the underlying darkness of Tom's obsession.
It is a long movie, nearly two hours and 20 minutes, but the time passes quickly as Tom flies from one seemingly impossible dilemma to another without so much as taking a deep breath.
Offering able support are Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles, Dickie's fey friend, Cate Blanchett as Meredith, the young woman who loves Tom/Dickie without realizing his deception and Jack Davenport as Peter Smith-Kingsley, who befriends Tom without realizing his true intentions.
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is sure-fire entertainment, a solid piece of filmmaking. To his credit, Minghella takes his time telling the story, allowing us to get to know the characters before igniting the main storyline.
You will walk out of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" unsure of your feelings about young Tom. You can be outraged by his lack of morality and shocked by his behavior, but deep down - in that dark place only you can see - you may find a spark of admiration.
And that is the genius of Minghella's movie.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net
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