Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7409 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-08
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Widescreen, PAL
• Original language: English, Italian
• Subtitled in: English, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
"I feel like I've been handed a new life", says Tom Ripley at a crucial turning point of this well-cast, stylishly crafted psychological thriller. And indeed he has, because the devious, impoverished Ripley (played with subtle depth by Matt Damon) has just traded his own identity for that of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), the playboy heir to a shipping fortune who has become Ripley's model for a life worth living. Having been sent by Dickie's father to retrieve the errant son from Italy, Ripley has smoothly ingratiated himself with Dickie and his lovely, unsuspecting fiancée, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). In due course, the sheer evil of Ripley's amoral scheme will be revealed.

Superbly adapted from the acclaimed novel by Patricia Highsmith (also the basis of the acclaimed French version, Purple Noon), The Talented Mr Ripley is writer-director Anthony Minghella's impressive follow-up to his Oscar-winning triumph The English Patient. Recreating late-1950s Italy in exacting detail, the film captures the sensuousness of la dolce vita while developing the fracturing of Ripley's mind as his crimes grow increasingly desperate. And where Hitchcock was necessarily discreet with the homosexual subtext of Highsmith's Strangers on a Train, Minghella brings it out of the closet, increasing the dramatic tension and complexity of Ripley's psychological breakdown. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett are excellent in pivotal supporting roles, and the film's final image is utterly effective: Ripley's talents have gone too far, and this study of class distinction, obsession and deadly desire reaches a disturbing yet richly appropriate conclusion. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel of the same name, Minghella's moody follow-up to his Oscar-winning THE ENGLISH PATIENT concerns Tom Ripley, a poor New Yorker, who is sent to Italy by the wealthy Mr. Greenleaf in order to bring back his spoiled son, Dickie. Once in Italy, Tom charms his way into the home of Dickie and his girlfriend Marge, where he begins to get a taste of wealthy living. When Tom begins to wear out his welcome, he takes drastic actions to ensure that he will never have to return to the life that he left behind.

Customer Reviews

**** CLASSY AND INTELLIGENT ****
Mistaken for a Princeton graduate whilst wearing a borrowed blazer, the low born New York charmer, Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), is dispatched by rich businessman Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn), to travel first class on an all-expenses-paid mission, to bring his errant young playboy son, Dickie (Jude Law), back to New York from his champagne and party filled life on the Mediterranean. However, on meeting the handsome and charismatic Dickie (and his equally attractive girlfriend), the awestruck Tom falls for his charms and an ambiguous relationship begins. Tom, the social chameleon who has talents for forgery and impersonation, feeling that he cannot enter this world as himself begins to transform his identity, by learning new skills, studying jazz, art, geography and foreign languages. He not only changes his clothes he also changes his character. Meanwhile the innocent and trusting Meredith (Cate Blanchett) who met Tom on his arrival in Europe accepts Tom as an equal because she thinks he is Dickie Greenleaf. But all is not well in the playground of the rich, for Dickie is in turns as unpleasant and rude as he is debonair and charming, and soon he and his rich friends begin to tire of the financially inferior and all too clingy Tom, who has no intention of being cast adrift, for it is his belief that "its better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody"...

The Talented Mr Ripley subtly portrays the hedonistic lifestyle of rich, young Americans in the 1950's. In the movie, Tom is less the casebook amoral psychopath of the novel and more a victim of class in his desire to be like the rich but cruel Dickie and Freddie. The film is, however, anything but simple and only about an hour in does the film become anything approaching an orthodox thriller. You are kept hooked throughout as we guess at Tom's motives..., which is at best ambiguous. We observe the mercurial Dickie toy with his affections, whilst Dickie's girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), aware of Dickie's weaknesses, looks on.

Although fans of the novel may be unhappy with the liberties taken with both the plot and the characters from Patricia Highsmiths novel, most people will agree that Anthony Minghella has done an excellent job in imaginatively and successfully bringing The Talented Mr Ripley to the big screen. Not only does he direct this excellent and very intelligent thriller with a sure and subtle touch but he perfectly captures the beauty of the mediteranean, as the movie moves from one spectacular venue to another; from San Remo to Naples, Rome, and Venice. It also stars a top notch and perfectly cast array of the worlds finest young actors, including Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare In Love), Jude Law (A.I.), as well as Philip Seymour Hoffman (Happiness) and Cate Blanchette (Elizabeth), all on top form. Damon's Ripley is an odd figure, his cumbersome awkwardness contrasting perfectly with Jude Law's cool and casual arrogance as Dickie Greenleaf, lolling around on his Riviera deck-chair as if the world owes him a living. And, although Matt Damon is truly outstanding, it is Jude Law's Oscar-nominated turn and Hoffman's brilliantly obnoxious performance as an ugly-rich American that come close to stealing the movie.

There are many unforgettable moments, in this beautifully crafted movie that Hitchcock would be proud of, as Tom struggles to maintain his dual identity. More dramatically satisfying than The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley is an intelligent film, carefully cast and immaculately performed. Highly recommended this for people who love suspense and prefer to watch movies that come with an IQ!!!

The very talented Mr Minghella makes waves not ripples. . .
This is an absolutely must see film. It is haunting, and very tense. I wasn't sure that Matt Damon was the best actor for this role, but the more I've watched his performance the more I am captivated by his sociopathic portrayal of Ripley. I thought the end sequence with Peter was absolutely blood tingling - and Jack Davenport (from the BBC's This Life) adds marvellous support to a top notch cast. The extras on this DVD are incredible. Minghella's academic commentary is excellent. For example, I wasn't aware that Cate Blanchett's character wasn't in the book, so now I've got to read Patricia Highsmith's novel! And the way Minghella informs how he condensed the first 40 pages of the novel into 4 pages of script, to produce a wonderful prologue to his film, demonstrates his excellence as a screenwriter and director. The cast interviews are worth buying the DVD for alone. Overall, this is an excellent format that truly offers value for money - and Mr Ripley is one of the most haunting films I have seen for years, and can now see time and time again.

matt damon is really rather good.
I didn't take to this at all the first time I saw it, it felt far too long (actually I still think that), and that it was overly-sanitised. I didn't feel you got much idea of Tom Ripley being the disturbed young man that he is. Having seen it a couple more times since I've changed my mind, and that's all down to Matt Damon's acting. A lot of Hollywood actors wouldn't even want to attempt a role like this, but he does it to perfection. There is nothing overblown or overly-theatrical in his acting, which considering the role he's playing would have been easy for any second-rate actor to do.

The filming is lush and sumptous, both in the first hour which is set in gorgeous southern Italy, (captured beautifully), and the second part of the film which moves north. Jude Law does a good job of playing the handsome yet excrutiatingly-superficial Dickie Greenleaf, although Gwyneth Paltrow seems to spend most of the film looking rather at a loss as to what she's supposed to do with herself, which I guess to be fair is pretty much like the character she's playing! Cate Blanchett has a stronger role as the geeky poor-little-rich-girl heiress who befriends Ripley. One of the pivotal themes to the story is the snobbery which runs rampent in the world which Ripley longs to join, and you know that Blanchett's character wouldn't be anywhere near as friendly to him if she knew who he was really Tom Ripley, toilet-attendant.

The homosexual undertones are exactly that, undertones. You do feel for Ripley's frustration at not being able to be honest about his feelings for Dickie, and know that this crowd would tear him apart if they really guessed the truth. The plot is as complex as any Hitchcock thriller, and it is astonishing the knots it gets itself into in the second half of the film. And being a jazz buff I thought the music was pretty good too.