Review of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) by Harpreet S — 17 Apr 2012
Anthony Minghella, who died at the young age of fifty-four, might not be a household name, but out of the three films I've seen of his, two of them are great. First I saw "The English Patient," which is one of the greatest love stories in my opinion (probably his best film), the second was "Cold Mountain," also a very good film, and now I have seen his "The Talented Mr.
Ripley," an outstanding psychological thriller! It is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel of the same name. The story is about Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) being sent to Europe to bring back Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), in the request of Greenleaf's father.
Of course, there is much more to the story, but it should only be revealed by viewing the film. Along with Damon and Law, the film also stars Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Every actor and actress in this justifies their character with top-notch performances! It is a kind of film that does not rely on silly special effects or other nonsense, but on an extremely well written screenplay by Minghella.
However, there are two masterful shots in the picture; one involving a nightmare where the camera moves in circular motion, the second involving the haunting finale. Everything in this film is unexpected, just when the director convinces you that a certain event will happen, the opposite comes to be.
The whole film is really like the character Ripley himself, it has the ability to think extremely fast, to be cunning. If this film was made in the 40s or 50s it would have been hailed as a masterpiece and revered by future generations, or if some famous director had made it as well as Minghella did.
Is it a grand-scale movie? No. Is it a perfect film? I am not sure. All I can say is that it is one of those movies that completely absorb me into its plot and characters, a film that I really fall in love with! If Alfred Hitchcock was alive to view it, I am sure he would have appreciated its accomplishments!
This review of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) was written by Harpreet S on 17 Apr 2012.
The Talented Mr. Ripley has generally received very positive reviews.
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