The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Saw this film for the first time today, which is odd because I love Minghella's films. In fact this was the one movie by him I'd never seen.

There are a lot of amazing things about the movie but the most striking thing is the cast. The main cast (Damon, Law, Paltrow, Hoffman, Davenport, Blanchett) is fantastic. Not only is it a who's who of the big players of the 00s but they're all delivering genuinely fantastic work. Jude Law sort of slipped into a supporting role after this (his few star roles hardly set the world alight) but everyone else was just on the cusp of greatness. Law and Damon have amazing chemistry in the film.

There weird bromance at the start and the way Law becomes increasingly uneasy is fantastically well done and the dynamic is riveting. Law is pretty much fantastic as the spoilt, abrasive, rich kid but it's Damon's cold obsession which is amazing. There's a level of sociopathic calm underneath his character at all times, even when he's at his most passionate. Paltrow plays wounded well and Hoffman is a fantastic sleaze.

It's an amazingly shot film, just lavish and colourful and utterly in awe with the world. Tom Ripley is this stranger in a strange land, soaking in the detail, loving the experience and the film sort of reflects that love of discovery. There's an amazing style to the film, the jazz and the colours and the locales are all ravishing. But the strength of the film is definitely watching Ripley, a man with no discernable sense of self, constantly in this state of osmosis. It's amazing and fascinating to watch him collect the details to maintain these illusions and even though he's creepy and amoral he's utterly riveting to watch (partially because he's very good at what he does).

'You never meet anybody who thinks they're a bad person'

Hadn't seen this for about 8 or 9 years, and forgot how highly I rate it. It's such classic storytelling, with a real sense of suspense and claustrophobia as the walls close in around Ripley, with great performances from everyone- I love how Damon steps up after the Dickie and Freddie have been dispatched- they are so charismatic (and Hoffman so deliciously sleazy) that it's a credit to Damon that the film doesn't feel their loss. The regular use of mirrors and reflections are never intrusive, but serve more to underline Ripley's identity slipping away. And his 'real nobody/ fake somebody' speech is amazing.

I'll be interested in how surprising this movie is to people in 20 or 30 years, because I can imagine Ripley killing Dickie playing as a surprising twist if you don't have an awareness of the story, but at the same time knowing it is coming doesn't detract from the movie for me. Minghella's best for me.

Absolute steal by Nick in Round 5 of the draft by the way.

Never got around to seeing this. Love the novel, but PURPLE NOON was so perfect an adaptation that Minghella's seemed as useless as the PSYCHO remake.

Also, Matt Damon for Alain Delon? Meh.

Wow, hadn't even heard of that. Ignorant me.

Although it seems a little harsh to be so critical of Minghella's version without seeing it, dude.

I'm with you guys, it's a film full of great performances and cinematography and pacing and locations and a nicely twisted story. Classy as all hell and a lot of fun too.

You are incorrect.

Yeah, can't understand having a hate-boner for Matt Damon. The guy is consistently great and generally really steps up to whatever acting challenge he faces. Plus he's really fucking good in this.

This is one of my absolute all time favorites. I can only describe it as 'masterful', and the first time I saw it, I wasn't a even really a fan. I first checked it out around NEW YEARS EVE 2000 OR SO, (perhaps 2001?) during a big rental sale, and wasn't terribly impressed. Maybe I was too tired, or maybe some of the gay stuff went over my head, I'm not sure

Anyway,

About two years ago though I went back to revisit it, and was blown away. Everyone is at the top of their game, and the film is utterly riveting. Damon is a hell of an actor, but I'd be hard pressed to a better performance of his than TTMR.

Everything about the movie just works, and every character feels fully fleshed out. I can identify with Marge, and also Tom. It's easy to see how people could get pulled into Dickie's orbit. As the Monji day dream slowly turns into the nightmare, the tension is cranked to nearly unbearable levels and as others have pointed out, Mr Damon manages to become every bit as fascinating and charismatic as Law was as the original Mr Greenleaf

I've seen the movie probably five times in the past year, and I'm glad to see it get it's own thread on CHUD. It's well deserved

It's a pity about Mr Minghella, but with a film like this to his name, he's ensured that he's a film maker who won't soon be forgotten

As I just checked this out from the library for the umpteenth time, I figured I'd return to this thread and state my opinion that I heartily agree with the original poster who stated this is as beautiful a film as you're likely to find, something I neglected to do in my previous post

 

The look of Monji, the cinematography with it's interesting use of reflections and mirror images, it's all pretty brilliant and I am saddened we will never see where Minghella's career would have gone