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:

How far would you go to become someone else?

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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

The film cast includes four Oscar winners: Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Gwyneth Paltrow. It also includes one Oscar nominee: Jude Law.

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Goofs

When Ripley and Dickie are playing chess, Dickie moves a pawn. A bit later, we see a close-up of the chess-board, where Dickie makes the same move again. In addition to Dickie making the same move twice, other pieces change position in different takes in the chessboard scene.

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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

Featured in Too Young to Die: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Ganz und gar Schauspieler (2015)

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Soundtracks

Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major; Opus 16, Second Movement
By Ludwig van Beethoven (as L. Beethoven)
Performed by Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax (as Emmanuel Ax)
Courtesy of Sony Classical
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

One of the best intellectual thrillers

I was so fascinated by Tom Ripley's character that I watched this movie again and again. There was something about him that I felt sympathetic towards on one hand and gave me the creeps on the other. Sympathetic because in more than one ways he is like you and me. He wants to be rich, he wants approval and he is may be just an opportunist. Creepy because he latches on like a leech, he can't take rejection and though he doesn't plan but once he assumes the identity of someone else he can go to any extent to keep that. Actually one can identify with the character so much that it's almost scary to look inside your dark corners.

Matt Damon played this three-dimensional character so well that I almost became a huge fan of his. Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, whose identity Tom Ripley steals was very good as well. The movie is shot in Italy, moves at a leisurely speed and is very atmospheric. One of my all time favorite thrillers.