Highsmith 's excellent thriller -which is the follow-up to "the talented Mr Ripley" -has undergone some changes:in the book ,Tom was the owner of the desirable Belle Ombre château (he bought with Dickie Greenleaf's money ,;his victim's cousin appears in this episode ) and the happy husband of rich French heiress Héloise who has not got a single clue about her criminal husband's activities .
The screenwriters kept the proper nouns and a vague screenplay ,added some hot sex scenes, and produced a movie too hurried for comfort ; besides ,Barry Pepper is the worst Ripley I've ever seen (he's got top-notch competition :Alain Delon, Dennis Hopper ,Matt Damon and John Malkovich,and he 's not up to scratch) ,lacking charisma and giving a johnny-one-note performance ,displaying nothing of Highsmith's complex hero .When Willem Dafoe,easily the best actor of the cast ,appears ,one cannot help but wonder what this cerebral thespian could have made with the part of Ripley .Highsmith 's story was slow-moving,but inexorably building the suspense ; the movie multiplies the coincidences,the implausibilities at such a speed it's difficult to follow the plot if you don't know the novel ; it's no longer a psychological drama, it's an action-packed flick ,like so many others , sometimes verging on horror ....entertaining at best ,but Highsmith's buffs will fatally be disappointed .
French François Marthouret appears as Héloise 's daddy ,perhaps only to justify the would be cynical ending.
The screenwriters kept the proper nouns and a vague screenplay ,added some hot sex scenes, and produced a movie too hurried for comfort ; besides ,Barry Pepper is the worst Ripley I've ever seen (he's got top-notch competition :Alain Delon, Dennis Hopper ,Matt Damon and John Malkovich,and he 's not up to scratch) ,lacking charisma and giving a johnny-one-note performance ,displaying nothing of Highsmith's complex hero .When Willem Dafoe,easily the best actor of the cast ,appears ,one cannot help but wonder what this cerebral thespian could have made with the part of Ripley .Highsmith 's story was slow-moving,but inexorably building the suspense ; the movie multiplies the coincidences,the implausibilities at such a speed it's difficult to follow the plot if you don't know the novel ; it's no longer a psychological drama, it's an action-packed flick ,like so many others , sometimes verging on horror ....entertaining at best ,but Highsmith's buffs will fatally be disappointed .
French François Marthouret appears as Héloise 's daddy ,perhaps only to justify the would be cynical ending.