The Talented Mr. Ripley could have been a kick-butt movie. It has a fabulous script. It’s tight and tense; a thriller with just enough of an edge and adequate plot twists, but not too many. It’s kind of long; almost two and a half hours, but every minute of it is absolutely necessary and crucial to the telling of the story. Director Anthony Minghella gives us all the glamour of The English Patient with none of the melodrama. The costume and set design of this film is what got my attention. Both are breathtaking and heighten the decadence of the characters and the script.
So why did they get Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon?
Sure, they both sell tickets, but neither have much of a range. I know, it’s blasphemy to accuse an Oscar winner of being not such a great actress, but through the entirety of Ripley, Gwyneth runs the gamut of exactly two expressions. Like Julia Roberts, she can do either the wounded-puppy pout or the big 1000-watt smile. The role isn’t too hard for her—a rich, jet-setting blonde. What a stretch! Fortunately, her character spends most of the movie hanging on Jude Law’s arm, so we’re spared too much of her. Damon, on the other hand, is just way too pretty to be in this film at all. His character, Tom, is a geeky, awkward piano tuner. He is hired by an ultra-rich shipping executive to bring his wayward son, Dickie, back from Italy, where he’s frolicking with his fiancée, Marge (Paltrow). Tom befriends Dickie and is ushered into his inner sanctum. He kills Dickie in a fit of rage and essentially takes over his life.
Damon, a tall, blonde, handsome man, is simply not believable as Tom. We’re supposed to get the impression that Tom is somewhat socially inept and has a hard time fitting in. People who look like Matt Damon rarely have this problem. He is just too glamorous to be overtly evil In real life, Marge would have taken one look at Tom and told Dickie to take a hike. Although, I must admit, Jude Law is a great piece of eye candy. Not only that, he gives the film’s best performance. He’s a snake who’s so wealthy that nobody notices how bad he his to his friends and family. He could be just a big creep, but Law knows how to make him a charming big creep.
The story has a few flaws. Early in the film, Tom demonstrates an uncanny ability to impersonate people. I kept wondering when we’d get to see that ability affect the plot, but it kind of goes nowhere. He gets away with his deception more because of his ability to lie with a straight face.
It’s remarkable that this film got made. It has strong homoerotic overtones and even today, not many moviegoers feel comfortable with that. I found Ripley even a little homophobic. Matt Damon might have been cast to make the gay theme more palatable, which is a shame. On the surface, this looks like a story about a man who covets anohter man's lavish lifestyle, but eventually it's obvious that Tom covets Dickie and not his clothes but the presence of obviously straight actors seems to obscure the homosexual theme.
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