The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

A small-scale imposter / con man, making the rounds in 1950s New York, gets caught up in something much greater than his usual scam and decides to let it ride, if just to see where he winds up. In this case the answer is Italy, gorgeous vestige of the old world with just a few hints of the modern one, where he's tasked with convincing a flippant trust funder to return from a perpetual, fortune-draining holiday. That mission quickly goes by the wayside, just as soon as he realizes how much easier life is in the lap of luxury, and he merely exacerbates said money-letting as the wealthy playboy's new wingman. When things take a turn for the messy, though, his welcome worn thin and nothing to show for it but bittersweet memories, a panicked string of responses sends the entire comfortable lifestyle into a tailspin. At its root, Ripley is an example of how fear and rejection can press a normally smart, affable person over the brink into monstrosity, a surprise considering the playful tone of the first act. Matt Damon, still fresh from his breakout in 1997's Good Will Hunting, shows great versatility in the leading role (essential for such a complicated character), smoothly masking that twitch in his eye from all but the viewing audience. It's one of those films where you'll feel wrong about your rooting interest, knowing all along that the guy absolutely does not deserve a happy ending, with the final moments serving as your comeuppance.

The Talented Mr. Ripley, adapted from Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel is a fairly unique and delightfully poignant character study of a young underachiever who is in search of an identity as much as he is of in success. This film delicately explores his relationship with an almost disaffected yet charmingly charismatic playboy and his fiancé, and how Tom Ripley, portrayed by a young, charming and genial Matt Damon. Tom Ridley is a remarkably unique character in the sense that he plays an almost anti-hero character longing for compassion, but is unable come to terms with himself and seems to doomed to constantly hide in the shadows of others until he manages to blot of their shadows with his own. I do not want to give away to actual events of the film as they unfold in a satisfyingly timely manner, relying entirely on Damon's character to scheme, manipulate and impersonate his way to innocence after his relationship with the aforementioned couple takes an interesting term. I can tell you that The Talented Mr. Ripley is a well-made film full of strong performances, interesting sets, and intimate dialogues. It's pacing is relatively slow at times, but during those moments you feel like you are thoroughly engaged with Mr. Ripley and his associates, and the suspense and mystery that comes all the more richly after the fine character developments and the intriguing multitude of emotions the strangely likable yet comparably vile characters(with the exception of the woman) experience. Overall, this film is certainly worth watching and kept my eyes fixed to the screen for the full 130 minutes.

I have seen in the past years more than 500 movies. I just saw this movie, and I must admit that I never seen a movie like this. It affected me differently than other movies. most movies don't spend this much time in getting the viewer to know and feel connected to the characters. This movie spends an entire hour getting the viewer to know the characters before the main plot even begins.

The Talented Mr. Ripley follows Tom Ripley as he poses as another person and is sent to another country to convince someone to return home to his father, but things go differently than expected. The acting is one of the best aspects of the movie. I don't know how Matt Damon got known for action movies, he proves here that he can do drama extremely well. And I've seen it before, this guy knows how to act. Jude Law is very good as well, but even better was Gwyneth Paltrow. She does a fantastic job of showing the shift in her character from the beginning to the end of the film, and while at first she may seem cheesy and overdone, by the end she's quite simply fantastic. The movie challenges itself on multiple occasions. It throws itself into situations that could only end poorly and it leaves the audience slightly on edge, curious as to how the scenario will play out. It's very good at keeping the story interesting and moving along, and very often an aura of panic washes over the entire film. If I have but one flaw it's that the movie, despite being filled with panic and intrigue, isn't exactly tense. I'm not entirely sure why, everything was there, but during the scenes where I should have been sitting on the edge of my seat, I found myself relaxed and trying to figure out what's going to happen instead. While this wasn't always the case, I found that it could be, although it didn't affect the movie for me until after finishing it. Overall The Talented Mr. Ripley is an intriguing dramatic thriller with great performances, an interesting premise and presentation, and a great overall atmosphere. If the movie had been a little more edge-of-your-seat intense I might have liked it more, but regardless it was thoroughly enjoyable. In the end I would definitely recommend this movie.