Movie Review: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Synopsis: In 1958, wealthy shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf pays employee Tom Ridley $1,000 to travel to Italy and convince his son, Dickie Greenleaf, to return to the United States. Tom accepts the offer but instead of convincing Dickie to return befriends both him and his fiancée Marge Sherwood and learns to enjoy the luxuries money can bring.
When Dickie, growing both bored and suspicious, later rejects him, an angry Tom kills his friend and then assumes Dickie's identity. However, he is only able to succeed with the deception for a short time before people grow suspicious.
Who's in it? The movie stars Matt Damon, Gwenyth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Jude Law, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and James Rebhorn.
Review: The first and only time I watched The Talented Mr. Ripley was when it was still showing at the theater back in 1999. Despite that, there were still scenes from the film I could remember vividly, albeit without much context. So, when I came across the film on one of our movie channels, I convinced my wife to watch it with me.
The movie, as it turns out, wasn't quite what I remembered. However, it was still a good choice.
I think the thing that really makes this movie work is Tom Ripley (Damon) himself, just because he's an intriguing, somewhat creepy and enigmatic character. The film doesn't give us much of an introduction to him and once he arrives in Italy, he is in full deception mode. As a result of this, it's difficult to tell which parts of Tom Ridley are real and which are just part of his elaborate charade.
A good example of this is how the movie suggests Tom is either gay or bisexual. I wasn't completely sure if that was a real trait or if he was just willing to change his sexual preference to whatever aided him most. Did he actually love Dickie (Law)? Or did he just convince himself he did because he wanted to be Dickie?
The other Ripley trait that keeps the movie exciting and unpredictable is he isn't quite a criminal mastermind. The decisions he makes are more reactive than calculated, making it easy for him to make significant mistakes - starting with the decision to remain in Italy even though it made it much easier for Dickie's friends to show up unexpectedly and throw a wrench into things.
The movie's supporting characters also do a good job selling the story. Freddie (Hoffman) proves to be deceptively smart and was onto Ripley from the moment he met him. Meredith (Blanchett) was a character who had a habit of showing up randomly and, since she truly believed Tom was Dickie but had shared acquaintances, was someone who could unwittingly out him and ultimately was the catalyst that led to an unexpected ending.
I was a bit undecided about Marge (Paltrow), but not necessarily through any fault of her own. She, like Freddie, clearly had some suspicions about Tom and those grew as the movie progressed. However, it felt like the film just waited too long for that to develop, choosing instead to have her draw her conclusion toward the very end and immediately have it dismissed by those around her. If I had any complaints about the movie, it was I would have liked to have seen that part of the story become a bit more.
Final Opinion: This is an interesting thriller driven by intriguing characters. It's worth taking the time to watch if you haven't seen it and re-watch if it's been a while.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1999:
Movie Review: Sleepy Hollow (1999)
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