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:

Older. Wiser. More talented.

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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

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

As Tom Ripley leaves the Trevannys' house after the home invasion, he tells Sarah to call the police and report it as a burglary gone wrong. However, he takes the gun he used to kill the two 'burglars', and which will make it difficult for Sarah to explain how the two men were killed with a gun that is no longer there.

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Quotes

Jonathan Trevanny: I've just never been the sort of person to get away with things. At school, other kids got away with all sorts. But not me. I always got caught.
Tom Ripley: You know why you got caught?
Jonathan Trevanny: Why?
Tom Ripley: Because you didn't think of just killing your teachers.

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Connections

References Candid Camera (1953)

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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

It's all in the game

Tom Ripley is at it again, this time in "Ripley's Game," a 2002 European production starring John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone, and a host of European actors and actresses, all very good in their roles. Ripley at the beginning of the film is involved in an art scam with a partner, Reeves (Winstone). It doesn't go down quite as planned. The film picks up three years later in Italy where Tom is living la vida loca, fabulous house, gorgeous musician girlfriend, best cook around. He overhears himself being insulted by a picture framer, Jonathan Trevanny (Scott) while at a party. Later, Ripley's old partner appears and wants some people rubbed out, and Ripley suggests Trevanny. Knowing human nature as he does, he's pretty sure Trevanny will do it and in Ripley's world, a man's soul is fitting revenge for an insult. However, Reeves wants more than one job done. Ripley then becomes a little more involved than he wanted.

The character of Tom Ripley is a fascinating one, and he is played to complete perfection here by John Malkovich who manages to capture both Tom's charm and even kindness as well as his dangerous side. Though he lacks Matt Damon's boyish charm, this is Ripley later on, and Tom has added to his survival skills. For Ripley, it's all part of the game.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" was a very disappointing film with great scenery and some incredible absurdities; this film is not without some absurdity but here, because of the director and Malkovich's handling of the material, the absurdity of the scene on the train would almost be funny if the reality of it wasn't so gruesome. In "The Talented Mr. Ripley," stupidity was played stupidly, such as Tom pretending to be David while Philip Seymour Hoffman was in the next room.

I found this film much better, much more suspenseful and compelling. I hope Malkovich has another chance to play Ripley.

Details

Country:

UK Italy USA

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

7 February 2003 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Ripley's Game

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,200,970

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baby Films, Cattleya, Mr. Mudd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1