Ripley's Game (2002)

A dying family man in need of money is persuaded to assassinate a European crime boss.

Director:

Liliana Cavani

Writers:

Charles McKeown, Liliana Cavani

Stars:

John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Lena Headey

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Winstone	...	Reeves
John Malkovich	...	Tom Ripley
Uwe Mansshardt	...	Terry
Hanns Zischler	...	Art Dealer
Paolo Paoloni	...	Franco
Maurizio Lucà	...	Franco's Assistant
Dougray Scott	...	Jonathan Trevanny
Evelina Meghnagi	...	Maria
Chiara Caselli	...	Luisa Harari
Lena Headey	...	Sarah Trevanny
Sam Blitz	...	Matthew Trevanny
Emidio La Vella	...	Shoe Shop Owner (as Emidio Lavella)
Lutz Winde	...	Ernst
Nikolaus Dutsch	...	Dr. Wentzel (as Nikolaus Deutsch)
Wilfried Zander	...	Belinsky

Storyline

Tom Ripley - cool, urbane, wealthy, and murderous - lives in a villa in the Veneto with Luisa, his harpsichord-playing girlfriend. A former business associate from Berlin's underworld pays a call asking Ripley's help in killing a rival. Ripley - ever a student of human nature - initiates a game to turn a mild and innocent local picture framer into a hit man. The artisan, Jonathan Trevanny, who's dying of cancer, has a wife, young son, and little to leave them. If Ripley draws Jonathan into the game, can Ripley maintain control? Does it stop at one killing? What if Ripley develops a conscience? Luisa prepares for her concert.

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Plot Keywords:

villa | villain played by lead actor | art forgery | based on novel | character name in title | 

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Taglines:

The talented Mr Ripley is back. Older. Wiser. More dangerous

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language, some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Fine Line Features [United States]

Country:

UK Italy USA

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

7 February 2003 (Italy)

Also Known As:

El amigo americano

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€210,408 (Italy), 9 February 2003, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baby Films,Cattleya,Mr. Mudd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Financial difficulties caused shooting delays which meant director Liliana Cavani had to leave the production before filming had been completed, due to a previous commitment to direct an opera at La Scala in Milan. John Malkovich took over and completed the film, directing around a third of the footage. Consequently, this marks his unofficial debut as a director

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Goofs

When Reeves is at Ripley's house, he prepares a tray with his breakfast and walks from the kitchen into the library. In the shot before he goes through the interleading door, the only bottle on his tray is his beer. When he sits down in the library he suddenly has a bottle of HP sauce on his tray as well.

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Quotes

Jonathan Trevanny: Oh, hi. You're here, then. Excellent. We were hoping you'd come.
Tom Ripley: Why?
Jonathan Trevanny: Well, to... to add spice to the evening.
Tom Ripley: Meaning?
Jonathan Trevanny: You're a bit of a local personality.
Tom Ripley: Meaning?
Jonathan Trevanny: People have heard about you.
Tom Ripley: Meaning?
Jonathan Trevanny: Nothing. Just... nothing.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No.3 Opus 36
(Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)
Composed by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (as Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki)
Performed by Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra
Courtesy of Philips Classics
Licensed by kind permission from The Film and TV Licensing Division, part of the Universal Music Group

User Reviews

Taut, tense and terrific...gorgeous photography...

Anyone who starts watching this little known film will have a hard time turning away. It takes Patricia Highsmith's novel and turns it into a stylish thriller, full of handsome interiors and lush location photography in Germany and Italy. Given the benefit of expert performances by John Malkovich, Dougray Scott and Ray Winstone, it's a tale that moves along at a fast clip and never lets go of the suspense.

It's more absorbing to watch without knowing anything of the plot, so I'll skip plot details and just say it has elements of Highsmith's other suspense tales (innocent man drawn into a murder for hire scheme) and most closely resembles her "Talented Mr. Ripley" story so successfully brought to the screen a few years ago.

John Malkovich, with his strange acting mannerisms makes a quirky anti-hero as Ripley and gets excellent support from Dougray Scott who makes the innocent carpenter a believable and sympathetic collaborator. Ray Winstone makes the obnoxious Reeves a vivid character. The train sequence involving the second murder is extremely well done.

Highly recommended as a vivid, colorful thriller.