The Talented Mr. Ripley - Social Climber of Death

Nov

15

The Talented Mr. Ripley - Social Climber of Death

≡ Category: Drama, Essential, Movie Reviews By Country, United States |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: United States
Genre: Drama
Director: Anthony Minghella
Year: 1999

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

I am not a big fan of director Anthony Mingella per se. I thought The English Patient was an utter bore. It was obvious, heavyhanded, and telegraphed every revelation a mile ahead.

But I’m not one to hold a grudge. I didn’t expect much from The Talented Mr. Ripley, which Mingella also directed, but I was completely blown away.

Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) wants nothing more than to join the upper class. In the time in which the movie takes place, it wasn’t enough to simply have money, although Ripley has none. Breeding was important, too, and again Ripley has none. The only thing Ripley has are his wits, and a willingness to use any means necessary to accomplish his aims.

But Anthony Minghella has done something extraordinary here. He has injected a level of complexity into The Talented Mr. Ripley by having Tom Ripley not be a fully formed sociopath. He still has feelings and a vestigial sense of conscience. That makes him much more relatable and worthy of sympathy. We cannot approve of his actions, but we sympathise with his longing.

Minghella helps us by making the indolent upper class lifestyle lusciously palpable. You could look at his depiction of Italy as a travelogue, but it’s much more than that. It’s practically another character in the movie. You can practically smell, taste, and feel it.

Another extraordinary aspect of The Talented Mr. Ripley is the pacing. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a long movie, but it moves like a bullet. It steadily builds in intensity until by the end, I was sweating.

The work of all three leads comprises a personal best. Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law have never been better.

Matt Damon nails the innocous blankness hiding the animal cunning of Tom Ripley. Gwyneth Paltrow communicates the trusting good nature of a young woman who has always been protected by her wealth. Jude Law’s Dickie Greenleaf is monstrous in his assumption that he should be able to get away with anything, including the suicide of a woman he has impregnated. For Dickie, her death is disturbing, but it has nothing to do with him, really.

The supporting actors are even better. Philip Seymour Hoffman is simply poisonous as Freddie Miles, who knows a schemer when he sees one. And you can always count on the great character actors James Rebhorn and Philip Baker Hall.

The Talented Mr. Ripley is art, but it has the explosive charge of the best exploitation films. I have no doubt that this film will be remembered fifty years from now, when most Academy Award winners like The English Patient will have been long forgotten.