The Talented Mr. Ripley 3 Stars (Out of 4) Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org January, 2000
---A copy of this review can be found at http://moviereviews.org/the_talented_mr__ripley.htm---
The most impressive part of The Talented Mr. Ripley isn't Matt Damon's excellent performance or the picturesque Italian scenery, but rather the abnormally disturbing chills that commence running down your spine at the 10-minute juncture of the two-hour-plus film.
Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) is a playboy in the truest of senses. He lives in Italy off of the allowance his father provides, dates a beautiful girl named Marge Sherwood (Academy Award Winner Gwyneth Paltrow) and cheats on her constantly. But Dickie's father, Herbert (James Rebhorn), isn't blind to his son's laziness and decides to do something about it when he meets Tom Ripley (Matt Damon). The meeting is really just a big misunderstanding, since Tom is wearing a borrowed Princeton jacket that leads Herbert to assume he was Dickie's classmate. Before long, Tom is given $1000 (a lot of money in the 1950's setting) to find Dickie in Italy and bring him back to his father. Although the film's trailer has no qualms about giving away almost every twist and turn of the movie, I won't. I will only reveal that Ripley is indeed talented and "would rather be a fake somebody than a real nobody." Dickie Greenleaf is a somebody.
One of the unnecessary characters in the film is Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett). Meredith is a playgirl who shuns her family's name and money but clearly couldn't survive without the socialite status that both provide. She wanders in and out of the plot according to when it is convenient to have her around and could be edited out altogether in favor of a shorter and more concise film. The only drawback to splicing Meredith away is that Cate Blanchett gives a remarkable performance that over-shadows the more prominent Gwyenth Paltrow. This is most ironic since Paltrow stole Blanchett's much deserved Best Actress Oscar for Elizabeth when she won for her mediocre-at-best performance in Shakespeare in Love.
The other standout is Matt Damon who confirms his status as one of the finer up-and-coming actors with Good Will Hunting, Rounders, Saving Private Ryan and now this under his belt. He makes Ripley an eerie and frightening character while, at the same time, maintaining a sort of dorky persona and managing to not overdue some rather subtle homosexual themes. His character's success at becoming someone he isn't is half due to his talent and half due to his luck. Damon smirks just the right way when he catches a serendipitous break and uses these fortunes to make the character all the more eerie and the film all the more disturbing.
The Talented Mr. Ripley beautifully captures the essence of Italy. The film's remarkable cinematography should go head-to-head with Anna and the King on Oscar night. Scenes in Venice's St. Marx Square, Rome's Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) and other Italian landmarks are magnificently shot and even compete with the actors onscreen for attention.
The movie has many similarities to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Not the least of which is the concept of someone who obtains money through illegitimate means by trying to be someone they're not. This holds true of both Tom Ripley and Dickie here. The lavish socialite lifestyles portrayed are similar and so is the deep, dark secrets that just about everyone has. Just don't confuse yourself, The Talented Mr. Ripley may be good, but if you expect something on par with The Great Gatsby, you will be sorely disappointed.
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