The
Talented Mr. Ripley. (1999). Cert 15. Director - Anthony Minghella. Writer - Anthony Minghella. Starring - Matt Damon, Jude Law & Gwyneth
Paltrow.
Premise -
Tom Ripley is sent to Italy by a wealthy businessman to bring his son home
to New York. Unfortunatley he begins to take a liking to life in 50's
Italy and has other plans. To say my
expectations were low for this film would be like saying that Scotland are
a poor football team, it's a given. Being that 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'
stars three of my most hated actors and is directed by the same man
responsible for the ridiculously ponderous 'The English Patient', I was in
no hurry to pop the DVD into the machine. However
boredom had other ideas..... I can say
with no small amount of amazement that 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' is in all
honesty an excellent movie. I found
the story intriguing and although I loathe law, Damon and Paltrow I was
suitably impressed with each to avoid switching off . Damon in particular
was impressive, he showed a lot of range in this movie. Given that his
role required him to me chameleon like and take on the persona of others I
think he performed admirably. The fact
the film also boasts the treasures to acting that are Phillip Seymour
Hoffman and Phillip Baker Hall is merely the cherry on an already tasty
cake. Hoffman is one of actings greatest hidden secrets and the scene with
him and Damon in Dickies apartment left me tingling. You could cut the
atmosphere between them in that scene with a knife, excellent stuff from
both men. Hall is just a constant pleasure to watch, he is
effortless. One of my
favourite current actresses Cate Blanchett is also in the movie and given
that she has a limited amount of screentime it's no mean feat that she
manages to steal almost every scene that she is in. MInghella
has made one hell of a beautiful movie here. The scenery in Italy is
nothing short of stunning. Sun-kissed beaches, remote villas and the
canals of Venice are woven together and really add to the feel of the
film. The story
itself was fascinating, twisting and turning all over the place. Just when
you think it's all over for Ripley he manages to pull one out of nowhere.
The film certainly keeps the viewer on their toes. So a movie
that confounded my exceedingly low expectations, that's something that
doesn't happen very
often!
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7/10 for The Talented Mr Ripley. Poster Quote - The brilliant Mr. Ripley. |