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| Genre: | Thriller |
| Year: | 1999 |
| Rating: | R |
| Length: | 2 Hours 18 Minutes |
| Cast: | Anthony Minghella, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law |
All-American boy Matt Damon reveals his dark side in this stylish adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's landmark novel of suspense. Director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) casts Damon against type as impoverished, social-climbing sociopath Tom Ripley with surprisingly effective results. Mistaken for a college chum of expatriate playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), Ripley is dispatched to Italy by the young man's parents to bring home their wayward son. There Ripley's identity crisis assumes deadly proportions as he becomes infatuated with the dazzlingly handsome Dickie and intoxicated by the glamorous, carefree lifestyle Dickie shares with his adoring fianc‚e (Gwyneth Paltrow). Minghella establishes the plot leisurely, allowing the audience to luxuriate in a sumptuous, 1950s Italy straight out of Fellini's La Dolce Vita, as the suspense steadily builds. The real accomplishment of the film, though, is the way it engenders empathy for the murderous, amoral Ripley. His yearnings (and closeted homosexuality) are made palpable and painful; anyone who has ever envied the rich and the beautiful will find that The Talented Mr. Ripley cuts like a knife. Ed Hulse
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