The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
“I’d rather be a fake somebody than a real nobody”
~Tom Ripley
This film is based on one of my favorite authors, Patricia Highsmith who also wrote several books after The Talented Mr. Ripley. Ripley’s character is so remarkably engaging and her style so fantastic that the sequels to the original are welcome.
THE PLOT
Tom Ripley is a nobody, a wallflower never to be noticed, standing beside you as he hands the “somebodys” towels in the men’s room or tuning the piano in the great Carnegie hall. One day, Tom meets Mr. Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) who asks Ripley to go to Italy, at his expense and find his playboy son, Dickie and to encourage him to come back home. Dickie is living the great life as an artist and trust fund baby in Mongibello, Italy. There, Dickie keeps company with Marge as they spend their days basking in the sun and drinking Martinis. Dickie is quite the Jazz aficionado and plays Saxophone with his pals at the local clubs. Ripley arrives, awkward and pale, stumbling over his words, but soon becomes friends with Dickie. Ripley has some amazing gifts: He can assume another person’s identity and play the part to the tee. He not only can imitate the voice but, idiosyncrasies and signatures and this is quite amusing to Dickie as Ripley imitates his father, eerily well.
The two seem to be inseparable at first until Dickie tires of him, as Dickie is known to do. One day, Ripley and Dickie are on a small boat off the coast of San Remo when Dickie, in a state of boredom, insults Ripley and makes him feel very inadequate and much like the true Tom Ripley previously was. On an impulse, Ripley kills Dickie, hides the body and sinks the boat. From there on, Ripley is Dickie Greenleaf. Ripley, assumes his identity, spends his money and lives the life that he dreamed of, as Dickie. What then unfolds is how Ripley fools the police, Mr. Greenleaf, Marge and Dickie’s friends.
THE CHARACTERS
Tom Ripley (Matt Damon)-Plays Ripley well and as I imagined while reading the book, but not visually enough like Dickie Greenleaf (Jude law) as described-Blonde and thin. Damon plays Ripley well when he is the awkward underachiever but not as well as he pretends to be playboy Dickie who is the exact opposite.
Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law)-The fun yet complex guy that everyone wants to be friends with. Always the life of the party, but when he tires of his company, he can change his mood very quickly! Law is the perfect Dickie. He portrays the fun loving side as well as the naughty and turbulent.
Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow)-Quite the perfect girl for Dickie as she tolerates his moods and is lots of fun. She provides the stability for Dickie and at the same time is quite capable of being on her own as she writes. She is much more interesting and glamorous than Highsmith’s Marge.
Freddie Miles (Phillip Seymour Hoffman)- The loud and boisterous American who Dickie has great fun with. He really grates on the nerves and finally pushed Ripley to the edge. Ripley again on an impulse murders Freddie. The tricky (and talented) Ripley maneuvers his way out of another sticky situation and has the police believing that it was actually Dickie Greenleaf who is responsible.
Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett)- One of the true greats of the film as she portrays the naïve and exhilarating girl who is smitten with Ripley who she believes him to be Dickie Greenleaf.
Overall, the movie was well done and adapted well from the book (written and directed by Anthony Minghella). There were many disparities yet I did not feel were an issue since the movie needed to be more engaging to the viewer. After all, it is a Hollywood movie; and the adaptations were well placed. For instance, in the book, Ripley is an extortionist/master of fraud, not a piano player. Dickie is a painter, not a musician. The change was made for the better and to liven up the story. There were some great scenes in the movie with Dickie and Ripley in the Jazz club. Fausto (Dickie’s Italian friend) and Dickie (and Tom, later) sing ’’Tu Vuo’ Fa’ L’Americano, ’’ a humorous song about a man who pretends to be more wealthy and important than he really is.
It is also not clear whether Ripley is homosexual but both the movie and book lead one to believe that he is. At times, it is apparent that he is attracted to the male characters in the book and repelled by the female characters, clearly one detail that he is unable to fake.
This film was nominated for 5 Oscars. Jude Law won the BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor (no doubt-he was sensational!)
p.s. This is my 50th Movie Review :)