The Talented Mr. Ripley

Rating:
Summary: This film did not disappoint!
Review: When I hear that Hollywood is doing a re-make of a French film, I cringe. I have read the book and seen Rene Clement's fantastic film "Purple Noon" before, so my only consolation was that Anthony Minghella was the one who made a new version. I am happy to say that his film turned out to be as interesting, if not more, as the French one.

ABOUT THE FILM ITSELF: Minghella took the story, changed it almost entirely, and created his own interpretation of Ripley. Yet, he also managed not to destroy Patricia Highsmith's original story. The superficial suspence has been removed from Minghella's version: Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is less vicious and less determined in his plans. Minghella revealed many psychological layers in Highsmith's story and added his own. None of the changes he made spoil the story. For example, in the film Dickie Greenleaf plays sax, instead of being an aspiring painter. In both cases, he is not much of a talent. But thanks to this change, we get to hear a lot of great jazz music that transports us into the 50's. Minghella also introduced some new characters into the story.

If you enjoy Minghella's films and/or psychologically challenging issues, then, you should watch this film. If you wanted to see this film only because of its suspence angle, you could be disappointed. This film is not as suspenful as the French film or the book itself.

Matt Damon made a great appearance in this film. I am glad that he took the "risk" and accepted the role of Tom Ripley. He turned out to be an excellent Ripley and showed himself as a worthy artist. Jude Law should get a big credit for his Dickie Greenleaf. His Dicki is much more complex and enticing than the one in the book and the "Purple Noon". Law even managed American accent quite well. I only regret that Gwyneth Paltrow's wardrobe and hammed up scenes took too much attention, whereas the true beauty and talent this time (as always) was Cate Blanchett. Finally, since the film was shot in Italy, most scenes are breathtakingly beautiful and literally musical.

Well, enough said, let's go & watch the film!

Rating:
Summary: Enthralling.
Review: I didn't expect mcuh outof The Talented Mr. Ripley, but I got good results. The film is smar,t poignant, enthralling and ingenius. The acting is simply superb, while the direction and screenplay are marvellous.

I can't understand why Matt Damon didn't get nominated for Best Actor. Forget Sean Penn, Damon gave his best performance yet as the evily nice Tom Ripley.

I recommend you see The Talented Mr. Ripley it is full of suprises, smiles and scandals. On my year's top 30.

Rating:
Summary: Pure Storytelling
Review: I have to say that this was certainly one of the best films this past year, deserving of Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Actor and Supporting Actress (or Actresses).

This was pure unadulterated storytelling. And it was very refreshing to see a movie that was layered. It is very different in the sense that nothing is ever in your face. Films nowadays tend to tell us what we are or what we do wrong too blatantly. And the key to this movie lies in its subtlety.

And this was one of the finer ensemble pieces, much like Shakespeare in Love. Everyone played their part well. Gwyneth was good, maybe not spectacular but good, grounded, solid acting. Cate Blanchett, for some reason, I found mesmerizing. In a few scenes in the entire film she manages to do extremely beautifully. Philip Seymour Hoffman, a highly underatted actor, provides more that able acting support. Jude Law occupies his role with great aplomb and just runs with it. And of course Matt Damon. I had my doubts about Matt Damon playing some demented psychopath, but he more than pulled it off. He actually did very well.

Anthony Minghella is one of the finer directors of this time. He seems to have a single minded vision of what he wants to achieve and really goes for it. As with The English Patient, he goes to greath lenghts to tell this story right. And he does so brilliantly. Everything was very well done, evrything was appropriate and in order. Everything weas good.

Congratulations to this film and all those who made it. It was worthwhile. I told a story without sticking it up peoples faces.

Rating:
Summary: Honest!
Review: Who ever thought that Matt Damon could play someone as evil as Mr.Ripley so well? I think that he gave a great performance and with the help of Gwyneth Paltrow how can you go wrong. The cast in this movie is very talented! Jude Law was a big but good surprise. The best part about this movie other than the acting was that it was filmed in Italy and the costumes were made very well. Grade:B+

Rating:
Summary: Wrongheaded and, frankly, boring.
Review: Readers of Patricia Highsmith will of course not recognize this latest incarnation of her creation, and that's not necessarily what's disappointing about it. (Movies from novels are by definition an "adaption".) Heck, you can change the whole darn thing . . . as long as you have something intelligent to add, a logical characterization to create, or a style that's all your own.

Anthony Minghella's *The Talented Mr. Ripley* has the style, but that's about all he contributed. The movie (as opposed to the book) is about a disaffected young social climber (Matt Damon) who falls in love with a wealthy young expatriate named Dickie Greenleaf. Ripley also falls in love with Greenleaf's lifestyle . . . you can take it from there. Needless to say, the friendship goes sour, but Ripley still loves that lifestyle. Early in the movie, Minghella blithely sets up a couple of scenes where Ripley proves himself a mimic -- this is supposed to satisfy us that Ripley will easily impersonate the obviously soon-to-be-dead Dickie. But, curiously, Ripley doesn't act like Dickie: he acts like himself, with better tailoring. Whatever.

It's the problem of this movie as a whole: no logic. Minghella changes Highsmith's stone-cold sociopath into an overtly homosexual sad sack who kills out of self-defense (the movie encourages you to put yourself in Ripley's shoes -- of COURSE you'd have to kill So-and-So!). In the second half, Ripley gets another boyfriend and they live contentedly together. Yes yes, but couldn't Ripley have done all this back in New York, in the Village? Was being a homosexual in Italy in the 50's really so much easier than in New York? There's just no logic here.

Speaking of Italy, there's too much of it. The endless scenery . . . enough already! It bogs the movie down. For how long can we stand beautiful young Americans quaffing cocktails in the rosy-fingered glow of the southern Italian coastline? This is the *Travel Channel*, not a suspense thriller. Late in the movie, when the police gets involved, Minghella finally restrains himself and devotes himself to the story, but it's too little, too late.

For praise, I single out the soundtrack. Also, Cate Blanchett -- the only charming person in a movie supposedly full of charming people. *The Talented Mr. Ripley* is worth a look, but beware: it's ultimately a burnished bore.

Rating:
Summary: The Talented Mr. Damon
Review: This is one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever seen. The scenery is so picturesque and beautiful it is hard to pull your eyes away from it. The acting is wonderful. Jude Law and Gweneth Paltrow show off their incredible acting abilities here and really make their characters believable. But, the best performance is that of Matt Damon, who plays the role of Tom Ripley with such elegance and skill you feel like you are right there with him; going through everything he goes through. The plot is complex and keeps you interested until the very end. The suspense is well-crafted and, in many scenes, leaves you breathless. The murders are few and far inbetween, but memorable because of their extremely graphic nature. They leave you uneasy until the next occurs. Top-notch acting, superb direction, and a very complex plot make "The Talented Mr. Ripley" one of the best films of the year. The only downside to the film is its extended length, which drags on after a while. But, it is understandable considering all of the plot points that need to be introduced to make the film complete...

Rating:
Summary: Great and better than expected.
Review: My friends didn't like The Talented Mr. Ripley much, but I did. I was intrigued throughout the whole film and I did not want to leave to lave the cinema, even though my bladder was bursting! The only thing wrong with this movie is that Matt Damon didn't get nominatd for Best Actor. He did a marvellous job, as did Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law especially. An all-star cast to die for!

Tom Ripley (Damon) has been sent to collect a young lady (Paltrow) to take her back to her father in which Ripley works for. Instead of taking her back, he stays with her and her husband, (Law) and Ripley kindly befriends him and they become best buddies. But then accidentally Ripley kills him and then he becomes him, which is as complicated as it sounds.

If you want to see a good drama with thrilling moments and an awesome screenplay see The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Rating:
Summary: A chilling Hitchcockian drama
Review: "The Talented Mr.Ripley" is about a shy, insecure, young man named Tom Ripley who unexpectedly gets the chance to participate in the sweet life in Italy in the 1950's. This 'dolce vita' is made possible by the father of Dickie Greenleave, who wants Ripley to travel to Italy to persuade his son to return to America. But Tom Ripley enjoys the life in Europe and the fact that he's no longer a nobody. Eventually he kills Dickie and makes his identity his own.

This storyline sounds very Hitchcockian and the film is definitly made in this tradition. There is the typical theme of identity crisis (Tom Ripley also turns out to be gay) and the finale is appropriately chilling. The cast members all deliver fine performances. It's a pity that Jude Law received more critical kudos for his work than Matt Damon. I think Damon's part is the more difficult because his Tom Ripley is a more multi-facetted character than Law's Dickie Greenleave. The beautiful cinematography by John Seale and Gabriel Yared's fine music score are also worth mentioning.

There are some slow stretches in the middle section, but all in all, director/writer Anthony Minghella delivered a fine thriller that brings back the days of the Hitchcock-thriller.

Rating:
Summary: One of the worst movies i have ever seen
Review: I couldnt find words to express how disgusting I feel about that movie, very boring long, unconvient... you realy dont believe any of what happening, the actors were so bad, I dont know how to explain the suffer i feel while watching it.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting, but a bit too long
Review: (warning: spoilers) This film started off very well; the beautiful, carefree Italian environment and its beautiful carefree ex-pat inhabitants were suitably enticing, allowing us to understand their appeal to Ripley. At the same time, the film gradually develops Ripley's darker side - his instability, his at-once childish and devious behaviour in the company of the golden couple (Dickie and Marge), and ultimately his amorality.

One of the most telling scenes in the film is when local girl Silvana, impregnated and abandoned by playboy Dickie, is found to have drowned herself. We see Dickie's less glamorous side: in the way that he treated her, and in his genuine though short-lived remorse for it. Yet more chilling is Ripley offering to cover up for him, wanting only to preserve the life of Dickie Greenleaf without scandal - he is not bothered about Dickie's reprehensible behaviour or its consequences - this is merely an opportunity to gain favour with (and power over) Dickie.

And the film deals pretty well with the souring of the characters' relationships with one another, the homoerotic tension, and the harrowing depiction of Dickie's brutal death. Indeed, it also shows well the spiralling consequences of Ripley's actions - except it lets them spiral on for way, way too long. Many of the plot machinations and new characters introduced in the second half were unnecessary and only slackened the tension and the interest - a sharper, more ambiguous ending shortly after Dickie's death would have made this film excellent, not just very good.

As for the acting: at first I was sceptical of Matt Damon, but once again he proves himself a talented actor. He gives an understated, edgy performance as the unstable Ripley; especially in the intense boat scene; and he shows both the chameleon-like and the homosexul aspects of Ripley very well. Jude Law lights up the screen at any given point in the film - his physically beautiful (can anyone find a flaw with this guy's looks! ) and ruthlessly charming Dickie offsets Ripley perfectly. Gwyneth Paltrow is good, less self-conscious than she sometimes seems to be, Cate Blanchett and Jack Davenport are solid in their supporting roles even in the more implausible last part of the film. Philip Seymour Hoffman stands out, suitable sneery but shrewd as Freddie. The film itself is pretty well-made, but could have done with intensive editing in the second half - however, the cinematography cannot be faulted, with the beautiful Iralian setting soaking up the screen time as well as the beautiful people in the cast.

Overall, this could be a great, glossy yet disturbing thriller, but is a little over-indulgent.