Rating: 
Summary: Well made, but........
Review: The complex issue of identity is a good place to start a screenplay. Everyone trying to be someone else is an interesting human trait, but.... As Mr. Ripley attempts to become someone else I found that I didn't especially feel any empathy for his character, nor did I feel any for any of the others! As people start dying, it was no big deal because I didn't care for their characters any more than Ripley! As the movie progressed it had already made its point early on and the last 45 minutes seemed like hours. This is a beautifully filmed effort, but if you don't care about the characters and their plight, then the movie ultimately fails. The screenplay, it seems to me, is extremely and falsely praised by critics.
Rating: 
Summary: Good acting/BAD movie
Review: The acting in this movie is very good, but thats all you can say about it. The movie does drag a bit and as another reviewer said you don't care if the characters get killed or not. The ending has to be one of the worst I've seen in years.
Rating: 
Summary: Believe it or not...
Review: Matt Damon's flawlessly crafted performance slowly seduced me as a viewer, pulling me deeper and deeper into Tom Ripley's world! This Harvard educated actor has been underrated and "cheese-balled" by far too many jealous detractors and critics. He gives us world-class acting of the highest caliber here! His technical range, having just seen Dogma (another MUST OWN DVD), is remarkable. Mr. Damon has chosen his projects well and has surpassed most other veteran actors in honing his craft to polished perfection! While disturbing and macabre in places, this movie plays with the viewer's notions of poverty, privilege, and decency. We root for Tom Ripley while at the same time we deplore his behavior.This in-depth character study, given by the talented Mr. Damon, is his finest work thus far and sure to be a modern classic! The supporting cast is superb! The cinematography is seamless and flowing! The storyline is deeply complex, disturbing just the right dullards in our society!
Rating:
Summary: Boring but somewhat interesting film
Review: I literally fell asleep the first time I tried watching this DVD. It has some interesting aspects to it, but overall it reminded me of the Spanish Prisoner without any of the mystery that made that bad movie almost good. The Director's commentary contains much too much droning on and on about the story, where he explains, TELLS you the story you have just seen. I prefer commentary that gives me the story BEHIND the story - there is some discussion about filming difficulties at the Spanish Steps for example, but not enough. I still wonder how they got that long shot of an empty Via Veneto for example (I suppose it was touched up by computer).
Rating:
Summary: Nothing compared to the Original!
Review: Its an old story based on Patricia Highsmiths Novel, with some nice pictures and a good Soundtrack but not as good actors as in the original! Matt Damon is a good actor but he could never reach Allain Delon thats for sure! Mr.Ripley job is to bring Dicki from Itally back to America, Ripley kills Dicki and takes his Identification than the real trubble beginn! At least Ms.Paltrow played well for the first time! Its a quit good movie with beautifull pictures!
Rating: 
Summary: THE TALENTED WHO?
Review: This is hype and tripe. A long, windy, precious muddle of a movie, based on a half-decent Highsmith story (she wrote Hitch's Strangers on a Train) but oh-oh-oh so laboriously dished out. Every review is subjective, of course, but Minghella at his most decorative just isn't my cup of hemlock. Yes, it is all exquisitely, meticulously hair-coiffed and costumed. Yes, the sun sparkles on sparkling teeth. Yes, Paltrow sighs and Damon frowns ... but, after the genuine psychological adventuring of Hitch (which Highsmith - a wriggly plotmeister - demands) this boils down to holiday Hallmark fare. I quite liked The English Patient, hated Truly, Madly, Deeply and Rickman and Stevenson's awful, stagey performances. Herein, for me, is Minghella's weakness. His actors, off the leash, go over the top like barellers on Niagra Falls. He is, mostly, a pictorial and tentative director, often reminiscent of Douglas Sirk (remember those Magnificent Obsessions?). I saw this movie twice. First time, I fell asleep in the long, tedious middle act (a plotline obvious, explicit and creaky) - and, of course, went back to give the players and makers their due. But what a waste of money! Damon is a fine actor, and Jude Law will soar in years to come ... provided he is nudged and challenged by his subjects, and discriminating direction. A dud. No stars. Go to Bertolucci for scenery, the Cohens for intrigue ...
Rating:
Summary: A must see
Review: From a purely visual perspecive this movie is top notch. The setting is spectacular and the cinematography is goregous. For those of you who rate a movie based on how close it is to the novel, this may disappoint. There are a number of areas where this movie goes far from the novel. Many of which actually make the story more believeable, some of which detract, and then of course, the usual set of things which would take to long or be impossible to explain in a movie. As far as the movie taken only as itself it was excellent. It even manages to take a miss on the cookie-cutter items of most modern american movie making (lots of sex scenes, gore and things blowing up) while being very thrilling and suspenseful. And best of all they save you from one of the final scenes which you don't want to "see" though you want to know what happened in a clever way... Like the novel this is a suspense story, it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what will happen next. Eerily you find yourself rooting for the bad guy. As far as the actors, Matt Damon does an excelent job of playing Ripley, despite the fact he's not quite right for the part. Ripley strikes me as a very slim scrawny yet tall fellow, Matt Damon just doesn't Look like Ripley (especially from the description in the book). Secondly, he doesn't look much like Dickie whom he impersonates. The actor playing Dickie was truely excellent (his name escapes me). He was the perfect flakey, spoiled brat Dickie. Gweneth Paltrow was at her usual. Her character was a bit more likeable in the movie than in the book. She did an excellent job playing the upper class "writer" adoring girlfriend. It wasn't much of a part for her considerable talents, but she played it well. All in all an excellent movie, I plan to purchase the DVD today.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible beyond words.
Review: I hated it, simply hated it. It was one of those experiences where you just keep asking yourself when it's going to be over. This movie is billed as a thriller. But what is thrilling about it? The pace is excruciatingly slow and Damon's acting is so dead-pan as to be painful. Is there a likable character in this whole tedious story? Perhaps Paltrow's character is, but you see so little of her that the movie is beyond her saving. Who cares who gets killed or whether he gets away with it? You feel nothing for any one of these characters, hoping beyond hope that the killing is swift and the credits begin. And when they finally come there are so many unanswered questions that you wonder what the point was to suffering to the end of this miserable film. This goes on my list of all-time worst movies.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful suspense film
Review: Although hard to make a mark in the sea of great thriller movies, Mr. Ripley emerges out of the bunch to give you a tingiling look into a confused mans life. The film really shows us how we all want and need to be accepted and liked by others. "Mr. Ripley" goes one step futher showing us someone who has been driven over the edge trying to do so. Forced to lie and be someone else to please those around him connects with us because most of us (although many will nt admit to it) know what this is like and have participated in it (not to these far measures I hope though). Mat Damon (Ripley) gives an amazing and goose-bumpish perfomance that leaves you wanting to see more of his character even after the film has ended. Jude Law (Dickie) holds his two faced character down very well and will show you a side to so many of our own friends. Paltrow (Marge) adds needed female support and holds it very well. Paltrow gives the audience the inside story of what's really happening in Damon's and Law's lives. Even though some might feel like they were "left hanging" at the films end you will take it to bed with you and understand why the director and writer created this ending. Talented Mr. Ripley is an amazing suspense thriller that will keep you talking for days...overall a great DVD buy and collectible.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't keep me interested...
Review: I don't know why. Usually, I love the psychological thriller type of movies, but this one I just couldn't stay interested in. Both Tom and Dickie just didn't seem real. Tom just walks up to Dickie on the beach, and then all of a sudden, their friends. Then they're fighting. Yes, I watched the entire thing, and no, nothing about the ending changed my opinion of the movie. I had trouble keeping my attention on this one. I suggest you avoid it.
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