143. The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Talented Mr. Ripley is based on the 1955 novel by Patricia Highsmith. It would be the first of a series of five novels to feature the character of Tom Ripley.
Tom Ripley is a nobody. He lives in New York City and would basically do anything to become someone. He stumbles into an opportunity while filling in for a friend at an event. Herbert Greenleaf is a wealthy man whose son, Dickie, has run off to Italy. Herbert offers Ripley money to fly to Italy and attempt to convince Dickie to come back to the States. Upon meeting Dickie and his girlfriend Marge, he is immediately taken with them and gets himself involved in their lives, almost to a scary extent.
I don't throw words like this out all that often, but this was really an excellent movie. Matt Damon turns in a great performance as Ripley. Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow are also quite good. Solid support also comes from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett and James Rebhorn in smaller roles. The story is engaging and hooks you in right from the start. Having never seen this before, I was intrigued by the twists and turns the movie ended up making. Usually I suffer a bit during longer movies but that definitely wasn't the case with this one.
Overall, The Talented Mr. Ripley is well worth watching. I recommend it.
2 comments:
I have yet to see this. My aunt gave this to me on VHS for one christmas and I never saw it. I have to see it ASAP.
I think you'll like it. It's a really solid flick.
Post a Comment