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The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A good movie, but one I couldn't stand. THE PREVIEWS LIE
Review: This movie is nuanced, and has some rich characterizations and performances.

Unfortunately I still couldn't stand to watch it, even though on an abstract level I can appreciate its achievements.

First, it is absolutely impossible to identify with either the protagonist (A bisexual sociopathic leech whose supposed mimicry ability only manifests itself in two twenty second parts of the movie), or the supporting cast (bisexual men and women who are themselves rich apathetic leeches of their parent's success and vitality). Secondly, are there any american ex patriates who are not either gay or bisexual living in italy? Enough already. The scenery was great.

If Damon's character is such a mimic (a terrible plot device) why can't he ever learn to function like a normal person, at least by mimicry. He never really acts like Dickie, even though the audience is led to believe that will happen.

WHY DO THE PREVIEWS LIE? This is not a suspense thriller about a jealous men killing someone so he can get the girl and take his place. It is a tale of homoeroticism and loneliness. IT is also three hours long. The previews play up screaming people, violence and bolts of lightning, ala silence of the lambs or cape fear. What we get is a intellectually complicated, drawn out tale of woe.

This trend of previews lying about the content has been rampant this year, with three kings, the talented mr. ripley, and star wars the phantom menace being prime culprits. ENOUGH ALREADY! IF YOU DON'T THINK PEOPLE WILL WANT TO SEE A MOVIE ABOUT A SEXUALLY CONFUSED PROTAGONIST, DON'T MAKE IT! DON'T CONCEAL THIS FACT FROM THE AUDIENCE AND TELL THEM ITS A THRILLER! This is not to say I didn't enjoy some of the movies that misled me in the previews. I did in several cases. But I still don't appreciate being purposefully given a false impression.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Tale of Change
Review: This is a wonderful story of a strange salvation of a young man who seeks one thing: himself. I loved the movie...it has just enough suspense to keep your eyes glued to the movie while Ripley weaves his genius plan in and out of the plot. You get a sense that Tom and Dickie were just somehow cosmically meant to be together, yet in the end Tom must find his own way. Tom is left with a dilemma of massive proportions...he must deal with the police, two separate identities, the press, and countless numbers of others who are after him. You get a sense that he is just doing only what he knows how to do...protect himself. In the end though, you get a feeling that Tom just gives up...and that giving up is what finally I believe sets him free. Perhaps the real Tom is just beginning to live his life as the movie closes with Tom sitting, staring, and just thinking.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible
Review: I must say that this is one of the worst films that I've ever watched. It was very long, and very boring. I didn't care about what happened to any of the characters, as a matter of fact I didn't like any of the them. The story didn't unfold effortlessly but instead seemed to move slowly and with difficulty.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful in all aspects of the word!
Review: Let's get to the technical wizardry first. This film has a "look" that sets it apart from every other film released in 1999. The cinematography makes the locations, as well as the cast, look picture-perfect. I don't think there is any bad lighting, unnecessary shadows, incomplete scenes, or choppy angles to be found in any frame of this film. A treat for the eyes is TTMR!

Gabriel Yared's score is magnificent. It is subtle yet ominous at the same time. Reminiscent of the best work of Herrmann, Yared never overpowers a scene. The music effectively supports every machination of the title character in his efforts to fulfill his perceived "destiny."

As for the acting, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchet display the guiet elegance that has garnered them award-winning aclaim. Phillip Seymour Hoffman shows why he is a actor to reckon with. Jude Law is mesmerizing as the object of Ripley's obsession.

And Matt Damon? He took a gamble in taking the role of this most sinister character. He pulls it off, magnificently. Ripley is never one to which the audience will sympathize, but he will not be condemned either. Matt Damon as Ripley is like the Pied Piper. He is leading us, as well as the on-screen characters, down the path that HE intends us to follow.

Thus, final praise should be heaped upon Anthony Maghella for putting this excellent film together. He is the artisan who took Patricia Highsmith's literary classic, added his own touches, and made a magnificent film.

Great is the Talented MR. MANGHELA!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Entertaining and Beautiful Film
Review: Matt Damon gives his second best performance (the 1st is "Good Will Hunting") in this very entertaining film by Oscar winning director Anthony Minghella (Best Director "The English Patient).
Suprisingly the only actor that was nominated for an Oscar was Jude Law. Law, in my oppinion doesn't even give the best performance in the film. Don't get me wrong, his performance is good. He's just not the best in the film. Damon plays Tom Ripley.
Tom is a bit of a loner, we don't really find out much about his personal life. While playing piano at a party, wearing a friends Princeton jacket a man asks him if he knows Dickie Greenleaf. Tom says yes, and discovers the man, Herbert Greenleaf, wants someone to travel down to Mongi and retrieve his son in the hopes of bringing him back to America. Tom declines at first, but after being offered $1000 dollars, he accepts. When Tom arrives and meets Dickie and gis girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), he begins to fall in love with Dickie's life. And begins to assume it has his own. Which eventually leads to disastrous consequences. The film, I think, is beautifully shot and I think it is a very entertaing film. The acting is just terrific and it's a very sad film as well. Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow are terrific. Jude Law did well as the obnoxious Dickie. Cate Blanchett also co-stars. Great film. A-.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Enertaining
Review: I liked it, i thought it was very intresting. Not to mencion sometimes funny lol on certain scenes, ''Im cold can i get in?'' ''...No'' the ending left me saying ''Huh?'' though i didnt get that. maybe im just stupid but i didnt understand the ending :( why'd he do that?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everyone is talented here!
Review: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, a con artist who is recruited to find rich, young Dickie Greenleve (Jude Law) in Italy and convince him to come home to NYC. Tom arrives and finds Dickie and his girlfriend (Gwyneth Paltrow) living the kind of life he wants. After an accident Dickie is dead, and now through a series of lies and posings, Tom has assumed Dickie's identity. This is certainly one of the strangest movies I have seen in a while. I like it when the villian is the hero like Mel Gibson's Porter in "Payback", but do not make any mistakes, you aren't going to like Ripley very much. He is played by Matt damon, who is one of the best young actors out there right now. He plays Ripley as an interesting combination of confused and confident. He has assumed playing Dickie so well that he is haveing a lot of trouble keeping everything streight in his head. He kills, but he is very regretful about it, he is sorry that it has come to that, but it dosn't stop him. Also, Tom is bi-sexual. He seems ashamed of it sometimes, like when he is asked about it by a policeman, but he can pretend convincingly that he loves women too; like the Cate Blanchete character. The film is very deep and dark, exploring schizophrenia at a much more realistic level than Norman Bates in "Psycho". The rest of the cast is also very good, sepecially Philip Seymore Hoffman, who plays a good friend of the real Dickie, who feels right away that Tom Ripley is wrong. The locations is wonderful, all shot on location in Italy. It's a little long, but it is really a very talented movie about a talented man.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: More like, The Spank-taculous Mr Law!
Review: There was a movie here, with Matt Damon? I didn't notice it. Mr. Law is perhaps the finest young male humanoid to currently walk the planet and I was distracted.

Oh yeah, the movie. I was kidding up there. It is actually a pretty watchable movie about a reprehensible character who pursues then attempts to replace Dickie Greenleaf (our Mr Law). The character, Tom Ripley, who is played by Matt Damon, is an interesting study but the motivation for his behavior is not at all defined. This is in contrast to Dickie's motivations which are positively flayed in front of our eyes. Overall, the movie was a bit disturbing but marred by either the lack of details about Tom's motivations or the inability of Matt Damon to project whatever exposition there was. The sets were really well done as far as I can tell (never having travelled in Europe in the 50's). Very beautiful, very evocative. The acting is good throughout with a notable nods to Gwyneth Paltrow who excels in these kind of films and Jack Davenport as the sweet and loving Peter. The homoerotic content was a surprise to me but what do you expect, it's Jude Law after all. Oh, to dip MY fingers!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie
Review: Slow start. bit a great movie.

Damon and Law make a great combo.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A CLEVER MOVIE
Review: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a subtle and sometimes elegant thriller, of course, it helps that the movie has such a talented cast that includes Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, all of them carefully directed by Anthony Minghella.

The strongest points in this movie are the cast of course, and the story. The plot of this film revolves around Tom Ripley, a very clever guy whose specialty is to assume other people's identities. Soon we learn that Ripley has a lot of hidden talents and secrets, most of the time Ripley is using his intelligence to get away with his tricks and scams, but even though he is an elegant criminal, he is also a very disturbed man that once in a while allows his inner demons to dominate him.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a showcase to Matt Damon (by the way, he is a better actor and chooses better roles than his untalented fella, Ben Affleck), but the rest of the cast is equally impressive. When the movie came out, we all knew that Gwyneth Paltrow was more than just a pretty blonde girl, she is a fine actress and this movie is another example of her acting talent. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" also was the introduction of Jude Law to the big audiences, and the supporting cast includes talented people like Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

The locations in this movie are beautiful, and the director Anthony Minghella and the cinematographer John Seale used the beautiful backgrounds to create beautiful visuals. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a clever film and its very interesting to see the story of these characters.


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