There is one thing Tom Ripley does not lie about, and that is the fact that he is very good at lying. In the early stages of the movie, when asked what he is good at, he replies honestly and nonchalantly: forging signatures, telling lies, and making impressions of other people. The movie begins with Tom Ripley(Matt Damon)lying to one, Mr. Greenleaf, as he assumes the identity of one of Mr. Greenleaf's sons colleagues from Princeton. From that point on, Mr. Ripley finds himself traveling to Italy to find Greenleafs son, Dickie(Jude Law). As the movie progresses, we watch the gradual yet ingenious identity change of Tom Ripley to becoming a friend of Dickie. As time goes on, and Tom studies Dickie, he forges a friendship, and ditches his attempts to bring Dickie home. Soon enough however, Ripley changes his identity again, and it is fascinating and compelling to see it. Through murders and lies the talented Mr. Ripley has become Dickie. The movie is a quite intelligent thriller, and it introduces a suitable idea for our time. It is a story of a man who becomes someone else, and feels that he will be better off that way. The directing and cinematography are compelling, and the story itself is fantastic. The acting is superb, especially Damon and Law(Paltrow is good too). Ripley is the villain in the film, yet the audience find themselves compelled to side with him. Because of the horrific behavior of Dickie and Freddy(Philip-Seymour Hoffman) we want Ripley to get away with it all. In the end however, Ripley finds that he is disgusted with what he has become. "I thought it would be better to be another somebody than my own nobody", is how he states it. Ripley finds that he has done wrong, yet the ending opens another undiscovered side of the talented mr. ripley. ********(8 stars of 10)
Review of The Talented Mr. Ripley
