The Talented Mr. Ripley
“The Talented Mr. Ripley” is one of the most elegant, haunting thrillers never made by Alfred Hitchcock. The film was Anthony Minghella’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning juggernaut, “The English Patient,” and featured one of the most impressive up-and-coming casts in Hollywood at the time. This feels like one of those “Oscar bait” films, and it was sort of set up that way in the holiday season, but the film had too much going against it when it came to competition. And yet, few films have exerted quite a hold as Minghella’s from that year. In adapting Patricia Highsmith’s classic novel, Minghella had a delicate balance in tone and characterization to accomplish, and he does a wonderful job of doing it.
This might be one of the most beautifully-shot films of 1999, which is saying something considering what was released. Shot by John Seale, 1950s Italy is sun-drenched, and looks like one of Hitchcock’s 1950s Technicolor films as we see Tom Ripley, played by Matt Damon, find his place in a world of American expatriates and European elegance. His journey begins in New York, when he is playing piano for a singer at a New York party hosted by the Greenleaf family. Mr. Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) notices the Princeton jacket that Tom is playing, and asks if he knows his son, Dickey. It’s the first big lie of the movie when Tom says that he does, although we find out later he was just playing in replacement to the singer’s original pianist. Tom is invited to meet Mr. Greenleaf at his business; he wants to recruit Tom to go to Italy, and see if he can bring Dickey home because he’s missed. Once in Italy, Ripley meets up with Dickey (Jude Law) and his girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), but not before meeting a socialite, Meredith (Cate Blanchett), whom he tells his name is Dickey Greenleaf. That’s the first in a series of choices and lies that will lead to a complicated life in Europe for Tom.
Minghella’s adaptation of Highsmith’s novel, previously brought to the big-screen in the French film, “Purple Noon,” is the story of a sociopath who manipulates himself into the life he wants by, essentially, conning a narcissist. Tom Ripley is not really a complicated character, but the way Damon plays him, and Minghella writes him, makes him fascinating to watch. We witness his ease in lying, and his ability to charm the privileged people around him. We see his talents playing the piano, and how he is able to fit in with anyone. A lot was made of the character’s sexuality, but Minghella doesn’t use it as an explainer for who Ripley is, but a character trait that plays a role in how he reacts to Dickey and Peter, a pianist played by Jack Davenport. Law was deservingly Oscar nominated for his role as Dickey, and he is a seductive narcissist, who thinks himself cultured, and someone deserving of his standing, but whom, as we find out, might have a dark streak that will lead him to protect his privilege at all costs. The trio of Ripley, Dickey and Marge is a wonderful one that sucks us into the film. When monkey wrenches are thrown in, like Meredith or Freddie Miles (one of Dickey’s snobby friends, played by the great Phillip Seymour Hoffman), we see how Tom reacts. This might be Damon’s best performance, and there are scenes throughout this film (like his final one with Dickey, a key scene late in the film between he and Marge, and the last scene in the film) where you see skills developing before our eyes. In a year of great lead performances, he probably gave one of the best ones.
Telling such a dark story in the lush, beautiful manner Minghella, Seale and composer Gabriel Yared do is what makes “The Talented Mr. Ripley” such a seductive viewing experience. We cannot help but get immersed in Ripley’s story, and he’s such a charmer, you have to appreciate how effectively Minghella and Damon have us rooting for his success almost as much as we hope he is discovered. The final shot is appropriate, because it almost gives us both things at the same time, and it’s an unsettling way to end the film that came before it.
