Review of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) by David M — 07 Dec 2014

I think you can appreciate this movie more than you like it. The movie itself is a bit slow, and meticulous, so you may not exactly enjoy every moment of it. However, you can appreciate how, like the Italian setting in the background, how beautiful everything is put together. Its a complicated story, full of complicated roles and relationships.

Tom Ripley reminds me a lot of Robert Ford in the Assassination of Jesse James, only Tom is way more likable, but they both have this creepy covetous relationship with another man. Ripley's borders on being sexual at times, but it seems that way with a lot of people in his life. Like he so badly wants, not to love people, but to be them. He goes from charming if not weird awkward guy, to a creepily fast-thinking impersonator. He's smart, but impulsive. When Tom ends up lying his way to Dickie, he tells the truth to lie. He lies to tell the truth. He wants Dickie's life so bad, and when he learns Dickie no longer wants him inhis life, then he decides to be Dickie. By killing him. This complicates things. Its all very complicated, but Ripley stays right on the cusp of losing it all, yet somehow managing to maneuver right through it.

The performances are outstanding all around. Jude Law stands out as what gives the picture real energy, as he's a lively dick, but you can't help but like him. Likewise Matt Damon has all the subtley in the world as he goes from being Tom to Dickie, to everything in between so as you and he are not sure where the lines are, and they begin to blur. Paltrow is good, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett are impressive in their small roles.

The movie is well put together, because of how effortlessly it handles all these complications. Ripley is the vilain, his body count runs up to three by the end of the movie, yet some part of you keeps pulling for him. He's a monster, yet the protagonist. He somehow manages to turn a jerk, into the antagonist, while being a jerk is hardly a case for deserving to be murdered. At the end, when only Marge knows the truth based on sheer intuition, you can't help but see her as an illogical and hysterical woman, as Ripley has made her out to be. He'a a master, and the picture is masterfully done.