Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Anthony Minghella
Was it long? Definitely. Was it entertaining? Mostly. Was it slow? You betcha. With a sterling cast (see above), a generally intriguing plot, plentiful suspense, and nary a likeable character is sight, this film got stuck in limbo between mainstream and art-house. It was too brainy for the regular Friday night crowd, and it was too stupid for the intellectual palate of a connoisseur.
Damon, being his usual creepy and disturbing self, plays Tom Ripley, a young down and out of his luck adolescent, who takes on an odd assortment of jobs just to make ends meet. Among his talents---plays the piano, does neat impersonations, and forges signatures. When Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) takes his for a Princeton graduate and asks him to persuade his son Dickie to return from Italy, Tom accepts and goes to Europe.
There, he meets with Dickie (Law) and his girlfriend Marge (Paltrow). Their glamorous lifestyle mesmerizes him and he soon finds out that neither Dickie nor he have the slightest intention of going to the States, if he can help it. Help it he does and the ``gang'' starts spending Mr. Greenleaf, Sr.'s money and having fun. Dickie's idea of fun, infortunately includes banging and impregnating the fiancè of another Italian. Tom, the homosexual that he is, falls for Dickie himself and tags along everywhere where his illustrious companion would care to take him. When the poor Italian girl realizes Dickie is not about to leave Marge, she drowns herself and Dickie suffers a thirty second mental anguish after which he bounces right back to normal. By which he means getting rid of the annoying and boring Tom.
Tom and Dickie go to San Remo, an unwarranted argument ensues while they are taking a pleasing boat ride, and the altercation ends with Dickie dead and Tom lying alongside his body, embracing it. Then the story of deception begins and does not finish until the credits roll an hour later. Tom impersonates Dickie, and leaves a bloody trail trying to cover up his initial crime, keep his new life, and surrender his innermost secrets to someone, anyone who would listen. This latter one turns out to be the unwitting audience, who is treated to an hour of incomprehensible pain, torments of conscience, and some red paint splatter. By the way, the symbolism in the second murder was one of the heights of the film: when Tom kills Freddie with the statuette, its gypsum head rolls on the floor and comes to a standstill, with the right side of the face dripping with blood (just like Dickie's wound) and stares with glazed eyes at the camera---the first murder begetting the second. Really potent stuff there, almost drowned in the long sweeping shots that usually collide with the close-ups of an actor's (mostly Damon's) face.
The story is excellent except for the last ten minutes, when Tom has finally made it: out of suspicion, with Dickie's allowance, with old Mr. Greenleaf's blessing, with the hysterical Marge off his back, and with Peter (Davenport) as his lover. And then his has the misfortune to run into Meredith (Blanchett) who knows him as Dickie and is about to spoil the happy ending. So Tom ``solves'' the situation by killing Peter???? What???? That's right, folks, killing Peter and crying about it too. There is, of course, no point in worrying about passenger lists, etc. He just kills him although it's obvious he loves him as much as Tom is able to love anyone. This is the ending that spoiled the entire film. I would have been much happier if it all ended with the scene between the two on the deck of the ship.
Oh well, I do not really know why, but I (and probably most of the audience) rooted for the utterly despicable idiot of a villain, Tom. So they made him suffer... so what? We just wanted to see him get away with murders and money and the girl, ahem... pardon me, the boy. But no, we had to have the retribution that turned the film into a morality play and lowered the score from 9 to 6 out of 10.
January 15, 2000. BLS