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The Talented Mr. Ripley

Reviewer Roundup 1.  NicoleG review follows 2.  AlexI read the review 3.  Walter Frith read the review 4.  John Beachem read the review 5.  Dustin Putman read the review 6.  Susan Granger read the review 7.  Mark Fleming read the review

There is only one possible good reason for going to see this movie: the Italian scenery-- the rest I wouldn't depend on. It has been presented as a tale about a fellow who treads upon everybody and everything to reach position and money, but it's not really that. John Ripley is not particularly smart and brilliant to create a life of his own. He is quite a dull calculator who takes advantage from the incredible set of circumstances that come to his favour. There is an attempt to picture the emotional aspects of his personality....we may ask ourselves is he attracted to Dickie Greenleaf? Does he feel something for him? Is it only his money he wants? Dickie Greenleaf is lively, witty, handsome (actor Jude Law) and affectionate, so it could be..... This point could have been interesting but at a certain point it is dropped. There are apparently no strong emotions behind John Ripley's actions and a character like that I find boring in this context. From my point of view, I've had enough about serial killers' stories. Most of the time-- as this one turns out to be-- they are absurd, so absurd that the people sitting next to me in the cinema were laughing when the murders were happening (at least I hope they were laughing because they considered the killing as out of place as I did).

Never mind, I will conclude saying that with more attention and analysis, The Talented Mr. Ripley could have been a respectable movie. Unfortunately it seems that the director and scriptwriter didn't take much care to commit themselves for a good result! Some advice: if you want to go to the cinema...go to see something else. If you do see The Talented Mr. Ripley, don't hesitate to let me know what you think: I'm curious.