Rating: 
Summary: Excellent film, good DVD
Review: Being on the side of moviegoers that hated "The English Patient", I was not expecting much when I first saw this new film by director Anthony Mighella in theaters. But it is a disturbing, compelling thriller that has been beautifully shot on location in Italy. The acting is outstanding - Jude Law received a much-deserved Supporting Actor nomination for his role in this film. But Matt Damon, who is in every scene as the tale is told entirely from his point of view, was clearly overlooked for his subtle performance in the title role. The bonus features on this DVD include scene-specific commentary by Minghella, two theatrical trailers, a collection of interesting interviews with the cast and the director, two featurettes, and two music videos featuring clips from the film. More than the usual, but nothing to write home about. But the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the DVD does the beautiful cinematography and frame composition justice. And that's actually what makes this disc a must-have. But be warned that the layer transfer (when Freddy knocks and interrupts Tom's piano playing) is noticeable and annoying, at least on the copy I have. I wish this film had done better in theaters, as the rest of the "Ripley" books by Patricia Highsmith would have made for excellent sequels. But it looks like this film will have to stand on its own... and it does a brilliant job of doing just that.
Rating:
Summary: One of the better American Films of 1999
Review: Riffing as it does on the Cain and Abel story from the Bible, RIPLEY is a lyrical and melancholic study of a gifted lower-class boy (Damon)who trades own soul for that of a spoiled, narcissistic playboy (Law) in the course of his coveting the sybaritic lifestyle enjoyed by the narcissist and his vapid girlfriend (Paltrow). The homosexual underpinnings are essentially inconsequential, although they add some spice to the proceedings. The true pyschological study here is a focus on how covetousness leads to greed and greed flips one so easily into the realm of sociopathy (one could venture to say it's an astute comment on today's "gimme everything" America). Jude Law's Dickie is a classic sociopath - charming, charismatic - bouncing from one bright bauble to another, and sucking the blood out of anyone on his way without remorse or consciousness. In the hands of Law, he is fascinating, sexy, and despicable, and we root for his death at one point when he tosses away Ripley's naive love like yesterday's tee shirt. Damon deserved better reviews that he received: his Ripley is an opaque being who is gradually formed as he masters more and more conflict in the course of the film, and by the time he has found himself saddled with the murderous soul of the man he loved, he's twice as fascinating as when the film began. Not an easy part to play as reconceived from Highsmith's novel by director Minghella. Seymour Hoffman's turn as a bully, Cate Blanchett's utterly stellar presence as a devil-may-care socialite, Gabriel Yared's heartbreaking score, and Minghella's swan song to the 'La Dolce Vita' years all add up to a mesmerizing experience. It's the kind of thriller Brian de Palma wishes he could have summoned the talent to make, but never did. Impregnated with many stunning visual motifs (statues, ominous neckties, vulnerable necks), and drenched in Italian ambience, RIPLEY is the treat of 1999. One wonders how it ever escaped the studios as intact as it did. As the final song over the end credits says, "you don't know what love is, until you you know the meaning of the blues." Poor Ripley has the most serious case of the blues anyone suffered by the time this film ends. This DVD version is pristine.
Rating:
Summary: No Spoilers in this Review
Review: Psychological thriller has highly disturbing elements, even if the violence is usually off-screen. All performances are stunning, first-rate. Location (Italy and New York) used beautifully... viewer believes he/she is seeing 1959 with own eyes! The best thriller of last year. Who will love this movie? Hitchcock fans Fashion watchers (great "Il Boom" atmosphere and full of late 50's sophisticated wear) People intrigued with High Society Also a "must" for anyone who loves Paltrow, Damon, Blanchett, Jude Law, or Philip Seymour Hoffman (one of the greatest character actors working today). I never read the Highsmith novel, but people tell me it's been nicely adapted in this film.
Rating:
Summary: SLEEK SUSPENSE
Review: Minghella's sleek, gorgeous movie version of Patricia Highsmith's classic novel of suspense is near-perfect. The story, set in and around stunning Italian coastal hot spots, circa the 50s, remains fresh and infinitely compelling; the main character, Tom Ripley, is that fascinating mix of vulnerability and psychotic killer, much like Norman Bates in Psycho. Matt Damon does his best with this role; casting him I think was the film's one half misstep -- Damon exudes such a glamour and self-possession that it is difficult to wholly buy his insecurity, though adding more than a hint of homosexuality does much to make him more believable. The other performances, however, are riveting. Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfection as a smart, slick, obnoxious friend of Dickie's; Cate Blanchett, an added character, is engrossing, funny and heartbreaking, too; Gwenyth Paltrow, often overlooked in the reviews for this film, is spectacular in each and every scene, conveying the privilege of her class and also her near-desperate need for Dickie's love. But Jude Law emerges as a superstar in the movie -- he has the matinee-idol look of 50s stars, and does an amazing job of creating Dickie Greenleaf, that kind of shiny, sexy person, someone who has it all, with a cavalier indifference to those who love him most. The musical score is evocative and moving. The opening credits, an artistic risk, set up, with glossy, hynotic camera work, a film that will often leave you breathless. A thinking man's thriller, one that is not easy to forget.
Rating: 
Summary: No sense of pace whatsoever
Review: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY is really a shame. Here are all the elements of an engaging, literate thriller--decent performances, a remarkably disturbing and insightful story (thanks largely to Patricia Highsmith's novel), a chillingly atmospheric score, and a well-realized sense of time and place. The trouble is, I didn't give a damn. This movie is so poorly paced, so slow and uninvolving, that watching it is like trying to slog through a pond of molasses. It doesn't help that Matt Damon is the wrong choice for the elusive psychopath, Tom Ripley. Damon isn't a bad actor, just a miscast one, and while he nails the various impersonations Ripley must perform and seamlessly switches between identities, he never really fascinates or enthralls on-screen. It also doesn't help that Jude Law, as Dickie Greenleaf, completely upstages Damon in an Oscar-nominated performance that's equal parts fire and ice. The only character less interesting than Ripley is Dickie's long-suffering fiancee, Marge, played by a terribly dull Gwyneth Paltrow, who looks almost as bored by the story as I was. There are a few great, nail-biting scenes that expertly raise the tension, including the murder sequences and a climactic confrontation between Ripley and Marge. If only the rest of this movie were as rivetingly suspenseful. The denouement takes about half an hour to unravel--I soon lost count of the number of times I thought, "Oh, good, this is finally wrapping up" before the script dashed my expectations by plunging ahead with some new plot contrivance that would require an extra ten minutes to play out. Even at under two and a half hours, this movie feels eons longer than an equally self-indulgent project like...oh, say, TITANIC. The truth is, RIPLEY is smarter, craftier, and more psychologically plausible than TITANIC ever was. It's not a better film, though. How sad is that?
Rating:
Summary: Flawed Beauty
Review: Evidence of the Oscar-winning talent that constitutes director Anthony "The English Patient" Minghella's crew is splattered all over this sumptuous film. Once again, Minghella, aided immensely by his director of photography, John Seale, showcases his gift for cinematically recreating specific times and places with a painstaking exactitude of detail and an unparalleled richness. As we follow Tom Ripley (played by an almost emaciated Matt Damon) from his humdrum New York existence to the golden beaches of 1950's Italy, we easily allow ourselves to be lost in Minghella's stunning world of bronzed and beautiful Italian natives and the fair-skinned American trust-fund-babies that saunter about their shores. Minghella makes it very easy for us to understand how and why a young man like Tom Ripley, who comes from a thankless blue-collar background, could allow himself to be seduced by the idle ways of these idle rich. And, indeed, it is during the first hour of The Talented Mr. Ripley that the film is on its most sure footing. It is during this time that we are introduced to a fascinating array of characters, ranging from the charming and gorgeous Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), to his beautiful blonde-haired socialite girlfriend Marge Sherwood, to the adorably aloof Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett), and, of course, to the spoiled and obnoxious Freddie Miles (a minor role played deliciously by the excellent-as-usual Philip Seymour Hoffman). However, this film's fatal flaw is that it suddenly shifts gears at the halfway point, and the story just as quickly loses confidence in where it is supposed to go next. Indeed, it almost seems as if Minghella devoted so much attention to setting up this incredible world with its incredible characters that he had little energy left to devote to the crux of Patricia Highsmith's novel, which concerns a poor young outsider who violently subverts the well-to-do world that he discovers he can never truly be a part of; but he does all of this (and this is important, for it is where Minghella's interpretation fails) out of an envious fury that the audience is supposed to be able to relate to, a fury spawned by the deeper ills that come from class division and prejudice. In other words, the audience is supposed to delight in Ripley's brutal killings, even if we are simultaneously appalled by them. We are supposed to be able to root for Tom Ripley, the underdog, much as we find ourselves oddly rooting for the Patrick Bateman character in Mary Harron's American Psycho precisely because we understand his fury at being stuck in the uniquely American web of shallow consumerism, commercial brainwashing, and material greed. Instead of developing Tom Ripley in a way that will allow his modern audience to relate to his rash actions, Minghella makes the mistake of trying to cater to a contemporary sensibility by making explicit Ripley's homosexuality, which was only hinted at in Highsmith's novel. Thus, much of the fascination with the character of Tom Ripley in the book is lost in the movie, and we often find ourselves laughing at this pathetic wretch with his silly lustful infatuation than sympathizing with him. Even on a structural level, the film's second half fails. Once Ripley commits his first and most important murder, the languid but alluring pace of the first half of the film suddenly gives way to a dizzying flurry of jumbled events, with Ripley stumbling upon one sloppy murder after another until the very end, when Minghella basically just cuts the film short and decides to end it. Even those that greatly admire this film must acknowledge the abruptness of its conclusion, which is meant to be profound -- with Tom Ripley sitting alone, fresh off of another kill, his fractured reflection bouncing off of a mirror and revealing his cracked and empty soul -- but is really just a fancy end to a very sudden chain of events that leaves the audience reeling and, ultimately, unimpressed. Still, Minghella's latest film is very much worth watching if just as a showcase for his superb ability to transport his audience to an intricately, lovingly fabricated world. And that alone is a commendable achievement by any filmmaker.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and compelling.
Review: This movie is not at all what I expected. I thought it was going to be just another un-original thriller, I was definately wrong. It is a deeply character driven psychological drama, with many twists. The director invites us to enter the head of Mr. Ripley (Matt Damon), who has some psychological issues, he is not happy with who he is, so he pretends to be someone else. This is where the conflict begins, because it brings up some serious problems and tension. Mr. Ripley is one of the most well written characters I have seen in a movie, period. I have never seen such a deep character. Not to mention the beautiful scenery, cinematography, music and editing that the movie has. The wonderful acting just adds to this disturbing and thought provoking treat. The movie also teaches us not to pretend and be who we are, because even though it is hard, a lie will stick with you and be harder. If you haven't seen this movie, give it a try, it's most likely not what you expect. The DVD also has some nice features. Highly Reccomend.
Rating:
Summary: Had Me on the Edge of My Seat
Review: Boy, the whole time I was watching this movie, I was thinking! Thinking about the characters, about the plot twists, about the setting, about the wonderful costumes. My brain just wouldn't slow down enough for me to enjoy the movie. That's why you should buy it- because you'll want to watch it again and again. Of course Jude Law did a marvellous job as the arrogant Dickie Greenleaf, and Cate Blanchett was totally believable as a society girl who is just getting used to standing on her own two feet. The scenery was gorgeous, and the retro costumes made me wish I had been born, oh, forty years earlier! But far and wide the best part of this movie was the series of plot twists. There were several times I though the movie was surely going to end, but the director found a way to turn the story right back around! Your head will be reeling with possibilities and questions, and you'll surely have something to argue about with whoever watched the movie with you. A great, all-round film!
Rating:
Summary: Weird movie
Review: I saw, this in the theatre and I liked it though it's very weird from start, to end. Matt Damon playing Tom was good. I liked it, good but weird.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea - poor implementation...
Review: This movie excited me very much from what few glimpses we were given as previews - so I rushed to see it, and was thoroughly disappointed. The premise is great - a very original entertaining idea - a star is earned here, and that's it. This movie dragged on and on and on... Nothing was resolved or accomplished at all. Sure it had nice scenery, but I don't watch movies for the scenery, I watch them for plots and entertainment - and this movie unfortunately had neither. I highly recommend it be avoided...
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