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Title: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Matt Damon | ... | ||
| Gwyneth Paltrow | ... | ||
| Jude Law | ... | ||
| Cate Blanchett | ... | ||
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | ... | ||
| Jack Davenport | ... | ||
| James Rebhorn | ... | ||
| Sergio Rubini | ... |
Inspector Roverini
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| Philip Baker Hall | ... | ||
| Celia Weston | ... |
Aunt Joan
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Fiorello | ... |
Fausto
(as Rosario Fiorello)
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| Stefania Rocca | ... | ||
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Ivano Marescotti | ... |
Colonnello Verrecchia
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Anna Longhi | ... |
Signora Buffi
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| Alessandro Fabrizi | ... |
Sergeant Baggio
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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. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
I'll admit that I rented "The Talented Mr. Ripley" without the slightest clue about what the story entailed. However, this caused no problem as I soon became involved in the twisted and rather bizarre plot; I was immediately interested in the movie as it was unique and unusual right from the start.
Matt Damon portrays the mysterious Mr. Ripley, who, more or less, remains a mystery throughout the film. I was intrigued at how, when you first see him on screen, you are given the impression that he is nothing more than a shy, innocent, and intellectual young man who pretty much keeps to himself. However, this image is only visable for the first five minutes or so, and is virtually shattered once he accepts the offer to go to Italy in search of Mr. Greenleaf's son, Dickie. I was fascinated at how rapidly his personality altered, and suddenly I understood that he was rather odd, as he deceived Mr. Greenleaf in the first place by wearing a Princeton jacket and pretending that he knew Dickie. Now, I haven't explained this entirely, as those of you who have seen this film know, as I am not writing this to create a summary of the plot, but rather to give my comments. Basically, Mr. Greenleaf saw Ripley playing the piano at a wedding wearing a Princeton jacket, and since his son also went to Princeton, he asks Ripley if, by any chance, he knew Dickie. Of course, since Ripley never went to Princeton in the first place, he couldn't possibly have known Dickie. Despite this fact, however, Ripley says that he did know him, and that they were friends. As soon as he says this, he manages to get himself in a deep hole of trouble as Mr. Greenleaf asks him to go to Italy to try and retrieve his son, as he couldn't do it himself due to that fact that Dickie wouldn't listen to his father following a serries of arguments.
I thought that the acting was brilliant, especially that of Jude Law (Dickie) and Matt Damon. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the film, and I felt that all the characters were believable in their own ways. I believe this to be a splendidly clever story, which is well written and directed. I thought that the music playing during most of the film was excellent as it matched the strange, eerie atmosphere of the story beautifully.
I would like to conclude this review by saying that this is a very good movie with an unusually unpredictable ending; it's nice to see a movie that doesn't finish perfectly for a change.