The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Writers:

Patricia Highsmith (novel), Anthony Minghella (screenplay)

Stars:

Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 76 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Tom Ripley
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Marge Sherwood
Jude Law	...	Dickie Greenleaf
Cate Blanchett	...	Meredith Logue
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Freddie Miles
Jack Davenport	...	Peter Smith-Kingsley
James Rebhorn	...	Herbert Greenleaf
Sergio Rubini	...	Inspector Roverini
Philip Baker Hall	...	Alvin MacCarron
Celia Weston	...	Aunt Joan
Fiorello	...	Fausto (as Rosario Fiorello)
Stefania Rocca	...	Silvana
Ivano Marescotti	...	Colonnello Verrecchia
Anna Longhi	...	Signora Buffi
Alessandro Fabrizi	...	Sergeant Baggio

Storyline

The 1950s. Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley, borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge, Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | italy | sociopath | neo noir | saxophone | 

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Taglines:

It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

25 December 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Strange Mr. Ripley

Filming Locations:

Cafe Florian, Piazza San Marco 56-59, Venice, Veneto, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,738,237, 26 December 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$81,298,265

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$128,798,265

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax,Paramount Pictures,Mirage Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dickie's favorite men's tailor in Rome, Battistoni, is a real tailoring shop founded in 1946. It is housed in the inner-court of 61a Via Condotti.

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Goofs

In the last scene, Tom is wearing a scarf in one shot and it's completely off in the next after showing that he just put it on.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tom Ripley: If I could just go back... if I could rub everything out... starting with myself.

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Crazy Credits

The opening title uses all the adjectives of the complete title before cutting to the final "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

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Connections

Referenced in Younger: The Talented Mr. Ridley (2018)

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Soundtracks

Lenski's Aria
from Act 2, Scene 2 of "Eugene Onegin"
By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (as P. Tchaikovsky)
Performed by Nicolai Gedda, Dimiter Stanchev, Juri Mazurok (as Yuri Mazurok) and the Sofia Festival Orchestra
Conducted by Emil Tchakarov
Courtesy of the National Palace of Culture, Bulgaria and Sony Classical
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Matt Damon made a good choice in making this film!

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It can definitely be considered an "intelligent" thriller. And I think that Matt Damon made a good choice choosing this role. He gets to explore the darker side of a character, a change for him, and he does so very well! On the outside he appears so wholesome and harmless but if you watch his eyes, they can give you a chill. And I must say that Jude Law, an actor I had not seen much of before I saw this film, also gave a great performance. He has great charm and you can almost understand why "Mr. Ripley" would go to such great lengths to possess his life. Damon did a good job of conveying how desperate he was to be someone with a life worth coveting. Don't be put off by how long it is, it is worth the watch.