The Talented Mr. Ripley

Studio:Paramount Pictures ,Prod.William Horberg and Tom Sternberg.Dir.Anthony Minghella.Screenplay:Anthony Minghella, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith ,Stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, James Rebhorn and Philip Seymour Hoffman,  .Release date: Dec. 25, 1999 .Theater:20scr.Movie played on:1 :6 patrons.(movie has been out for awhile.)

I just wrote a scathing review of Magnolia, a film I really admired, and which just left me cold, and my butt sore, so I felt like waiting a while before seeing Mr. Ripley, which Kenneth Turan in the L.A. Times called a "wonderfully accomplished work that's unconvincing at its core." I don't quite feel that way about the film. It was directed by Anthony Minghella, who crafted the stunning opus, The English Patient, and although I really wanted to see Ripley, I guess the reviews put me off, and also the fact that going into it I knew (PLOT POINT ALERT) that the protaganist, Tom Ripley, played by Matt Damon, is the villian of the piece. Upon leaving the theater, the woman who was sitting in front of me called to her friends waiting in line for the next showing, "Listen to the reviews. The ending is awful."

I'll clarify that I didn't think the ending awful. Like most long movies these days, sometimes the ending can be a blessing. It sure was for Magnolia. I think Ripley ends as I think it should, so I wasn't disappointed. I know that the character was in a series of books written by Highsmith, so the door is open for an , ahem, sequel, if anybody wants to make one. This is one of those movies that looks stupendous, shot in Italy by Cinematographer John Seale. I have heard it described as a picture postcard look, but that is misleading. The movie looks like a Hitchcock picture, specifically the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much in the way it is shot. This is fitting, because Hitchcock adapted a Patricia Highsmith novel, Strangers on a Train. As I viewed Ripley, I kept thinking of Strangers, and felt that this film bore much more in common with Hitch than with Minghella's last movie, the sprawling epic English Patient. The themes in Highsmith, I would gather , then , since I haven't read her books, are present in both Strangers and in Ripley.

Matt is very good, as is Jude Law. Gwyneth is given little to do, and I hope that someday Cate Blanchett, who was stupendous in Elizabeth , is given more than a supporting role in a future film. She really lights the screen. I wanted to see more of her in this film. Matt does very good with the character of Tom, who is a chameleon most at home when he is impersonating someone else. We never really see him as himself, except in one scene where he is a valet in a men's restroom dusting the backs of the patrons for tips. He ingratiates himself to the father (James Rebhorn) of Dickie Greenleaf (Law) who is playing about in Italy with his girlfriend Marge (Paltrow). Mr. Greenleaf pays Tom to travel to Italy to see if he can bring Dickie home. Upon arriving, Tom invades Dickie's life, and finds himself an uninvited guest, who tells Dickie why he was drafted , although not letting the young man know that he isn't even in fact an old friend, the ruse with which he ingratiated himself with Dickie's father in the first place. At first everything is fine and dandy, but as Tom grows more attracted to Dickie, and a confrontation is set where Dickie accuses Tom of sponging, the plot thickens into what could have been a muddled soup, but is made interesting by Minghella's expert hand.

Like all the good films this year, I don't think The Talented Mr. Ripley is for everyone. Most will probably be turned off by Tom's actions, but then, how are you going to make an unappealing character appealing? I am reminded of Bob Fosse's excellent film of Dorothy Stratten, Star '80,and Eric Robert's portrayal of the oily Paul Snider. I felt that Eric deserved an oscar for that unappealing role, and Matt Damon's Tom Ripley certainly is in the same mold. However, where Paul is slippery and unlikable, Tom Ripley is eminently likeable, and therein lies the greatest tightrope act in the movie. I think all parties pull it off, and I , for one, think very strongly that Mr. Ripley does deserve a nomination for Best Picture this year. (Although I want American Beauty to win.)

Ripley is a narrative piece, unlike English Patient, which is much more "cinematic." (So was Magnolia, almost too much so as to make it seem a bit self-serving.) But like the best Hitchcock, the cinematic flourishes which we are used to seeing in , say a Brian De Palma movie, are invisible in the best of work, and Ripley has some very good shots, and editing. All the camerawork serves the story, though, and for this I applaud Mr. Minghella. (There are more cinematic flourishes in his last film.) I don't think of the film as a  "travelogue" as has been reported, although for some reason, this, like American Beauty with Liv Tyler, makes me want to go to Italy. The Italian countryside and seaside scenes are delicious. Truly a romantic looking place. Also which serves the story, which is a romance gone haywire. Bored young American expatriates with nothing on their minds except, well, I'd be telling.

I recommend The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by the talented Mr. Anthony Minghella, and acted by a truly wonderful cast. This is one of those films, where I "lived in the movie." I had a good time, and was not disappointed by the ending, because I really don't see how this film could have ended otherwise, especially since I know Highsmith uses the character in other novels. To repeat, Cate Blanchett should have been used more, and Paltrow didn't excite me like she does in other films (like Emma and Shakespeare In Love, to name two.) Jude Law really stands out. He was one of the few memorable things about Gattaca, as well. I like Matt Damon. (This will be an allusion to a certain Kevin Smith movie, but there is a shot in Ripley where Tom is walking up some steps in Italy, and a couple of nuns are walking down the steps on the other side. I half expected Matt to walk over and start questioning the nuns about their faith.)

I won't put "see this movie" on my link to this review, because I think there are probably either better mainstream, or , quirky films which need to be seen this year, but if you like a good "whydunnit" or "howdunnit" as opposed to a "whodunnit", and admire Minghella or anyone in the cast, do put it on your agenda. You might be disappointed in specific parts of the narrative line, but the overall impression is that this is a good film, one I'll want to "live in" again.