Ripley's Game (2003)

The Tom Ripley character is one of the great characters of all time. In all the movies, Ripley is a complete sociopath...a man with no sense of conscience and who is willing to do anything to get what he wants in life. The's such a great character because he's so incredibly believable...a textbook example of the antisocial personality. While some incarnations of Ripley were quite gorgeous (especially Alaine Delon in the first Ripley film), this one features John Malkovich who brings his own take on the menacing man. In this case, he looks so incredibly ordinary...yet is a man who kills with zero remorse! The film begins with Ripley committing a brutal murder. However, much of the movie is not about Ripley the assassin but Ripley the master manipulator. Years pass and Ripley notices a young, cocky Jonathan (Dougray Scott) making fun of him at a party. Later, Ripley learns this same man is dying from cancer...and he uses this information to eventually turn this genuinely decent man into a killer...almost as if he's some science fair project! What's next? See the film.I must warn you that this film has some very brutal and vivid murders....and it's NOT a kid's movie!! But it also is very well written, acted and is very engaging and a savvy look at just what sociopaths are capable of doing.

If you want an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "Ripley's Game" in terms of fantasy and fictional characters, very romanticized and unlikely to be true with a photocopied Malkovich's acting already present in his last 100 movies, go see this film with a bourgeois popcorn in one hand and a pompous pseudo-intellectual hollywoodesque far-fetched compliment on the other.If you want the opposite, check out Wim Wender's 1977s masterpiece "Der Amerikanische Freund" (aka. "The American Friend") and delight yourself with the dramatic triangular acting of these extraordinary actors and one of Wim Wender's mentors: the young Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper plus a still ferocious Nicholas Ray. Sadly Nicholas Ray dies almost 2 years after but not before co-directing his last film "Lightning Over Water" with his friend Wim Wenders.If you haven't seen it, after you've done it and unless you are in denial, you'll seriously reconsider "Ripley's game".

I watched this film having never seen any of the Ripley films or read any of the books, from a recommendation from a friend. From the first scene to the last I was riveted to the movie. Basically Tom Ripley (played superbly by John Malkovich) is a sociopath, a charming evil man without a conscience who can con, steal, murder and manipulate his way through life with ease for his own personal gain. During the process he has gone from nothing to being extremely wealthy and living in a mansion in a lush Venetian villa in Italy. He decides to play a deadly game with a neighbour. Jonathon Trevany, who insults him at a party. He finds out Jonathan has a few months to live as he has a terminal illness and arranges for him to do a assassination for a ex-business associate Reeves (Ray Winston) for a large amount of money that will set his family up for life. After manipulating events, it becomes clear that Reeves wants revenge on Ripley and blows the situation bigger. After murdering the target successfully and thinking that is it, Reeves wants Jonathan to kill the victims Russian co-workers using a garrote to strangle them. Completely out of hand and in an impossible situation. At the beginning of the movie we see Ripley rip off virtually everyone in a business deal involving forged artwork, in which Reeves had set up the deal in the first place, so we know why this is more than it seems. Ripley becomes friends with Jonathan in the meantime and appears to find a conscience and intervenes to sort out the huge situation he originally helped create. Jonathon is, after all an innocent picture framer who is totally out of his depth. Needless to say murder and mayhem follow once out main man comes onto the scene. All in a days work for Tom Ripley.The Film is fantastic, always moving at a fast pace and the cast of Winston, Malkovich and Dougray Scott all seem to enjoy their roles. There are several other Ripley films, Ripley underground was made after Ripley's Game in 2005 and is unreleased in the UK but available in some countries. Earlier Ripley films are Plein soleil (1960 France), American Friend (Made in 1977 and is actually from the book Ripley's game, an earlier version with Dennis Hopper as Tom Ripley) & the talented Mr Ripley (1999) Recommended 9 out of 10.

I enjoyed this film, but only in parts.John Malkovich makes an excellent psychopath (as always!) and at the same time conveys that sense of suaveness and sophistication that Highsmith gave Ripley in the book. He also manages to get across the ambiguity between coldness and sympathy which is key in this film.But, the rest of the film is less inspiring. We have three other main characters: Trevanny, Tervanny's wife and Reeves Minot. Dougreay Scott as Trevanny seemed wooden and somewhat out of his depth in the part. Lena Headey's acting was more suited to a soap opera and personally I found her completely unconvincing.Ray Winstone turned in his standard East-end cockney gangster performance - liberally sprinkled with expletives. I had two problems here: this take on the character seemed out of place in Ripley's milieu (I could not believe he would have been involved with such a "common" person); I think Winstone could have been directed to produce something more inspiring. It seemed to me a more sophisticated villain would have been more appropriate.On the other hand, the locations are mostly beautiful and the story is of course good, being lifted for the most part from Highsmith's novel. So, an OK film, but one which might have been much better if led by a better director one feels.