Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
When I first came to Datalounge @2001, I saw this movie was a kind of DL favorite and that Jude Law in particular in this film was just the darling of very older gay man on this board. I didn't see it at all at the time (I'm just a little older than he is, and he wasn't my type), but now I totally see it-- he's the gay man's fantasy of the straight boy cocktease: golden hair, perfect tan skin, nicely muscled, arrogant, insolent, charming, and a huge flirt with the gay Tom Ripley.
Matt Damon is much better looking now than he was then: he had huge tombstone teeth. When the film came out I thought he and Jude Law looked nothing alike, but I see now how his Ripley might pass for Dickie Greenleaf.
Goop is decent as Marge: she's basically playing herself. The real acting honors in the movie, though, go to Philip Seymour Hoffman as the smug, cruel, snobbish Freddie and (especially) Cate Blanchett as the elegant but insecure Meredith.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 1, 2018 5:51 PM
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The real star of the show is Venice.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | October 26, 2014 4:44 AM
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Which is odd, since lots of it was filmed in Positano, Rome, Ischia, and Naples.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | October 26, 2014 4:48 AM
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That was one of the films where I thought, now here is an actress who can steal a film by appearing in it for five minutes. I had seen Cate Blanchett in Oscar and Lucinda and I knew she was something special. This film confirmed it to me even more so than Elizabeth (strangely, I am not so fond of her performance in Elizabeth; I think she did a much better job in Veronica Guerin, and she was the best thing about Charlotte Gray).
Matt Damon is a VERY limited actor. You can see that plainly in this film. His character motivations are all on the surface. The longing is just longing, and it is the same whether he longs for Dickie, or money, or freedom, or love. Actors like Hoffman and Blanchett easily expose lightweights like Damon and Goop when you see them together in a film.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 26, 2014 5:04 AM
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R3, clearly you are reading far, far too much into this film.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 26, 2014 5:07 AM
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I like the Delon version much better.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 26, 2014 5:13 AM
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It's a great movie. Minghella gets the feel and look right. I think Paltrow is terrific in the film. Law is perfectly cast and PSH is a standout. Blanchette is a very showy actress. Had her part been bigger, her performance would not have worked so well IMO. Damon was OK, but I don't think R3 understands what he was playing. Longing is not the word I would use.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 26, 2014 5:18 AM
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Maybe longing is not the right word; it's been a while since I saw the film. But I still think Matt Damon is a one note actor.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | October 26, 2014 5:21 AM
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No, R3 was correct, Damon was the weak link in this film, the one thing that keeps it from being truly great.
He's competent, projecting awkwardness, ambition, longing, whatever the scene calls for, but no more. There are no little touches of genius, nothing to make the character fascinating, and no star charisma either. All the other actors blow him off the screen, even Gwynneth.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 26, 2014 5:22 AM
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This film is in my top 15 most beautiful to watch. It made me want to get on the next plane to Italy. Jude was distractingly handsome, and Coop was perfect in her role as the well born yet kind Marge. It's the only film I've ever liked her in.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | October 26, 2014 5:36 AM
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Minghella justifiably gives PSH one of the best film entrances ever. Unforgettable.
That said, I wasn't too troubled by Freddie's exit. A fair example of the fan hitting the shit.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | October 26, 2014 6:14 AM
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What happened to Matt Damon's moles on his face? They all gone. I swear he's never been the same.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | October 26, 2014 6:20 AM
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I agree, R5. I know DL loves Matt Damon, but I've always thought of him as the second coming of Martin Milner.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | October 26, 2014 6:36 AM
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My favorite film ever.
Hoffman.
I wonder what perfume Tom was bringing to Marj.
How's the peeping....
Tommy Tommy Tommy
by Anonymous | reply 15 | October 26, 2014 6:49 AM
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[quote]and Coop was perfect in her role as the well born yet kind Marge
I don't think Marge was all that kind. She was nice to Tom at first, but when she got to Venice she made all kinds of bitchy comments about how far she wanted to tell Dickie's father's how far Tom was making his dollar stretch.
The only nice people in the film are the characters played by Blanchett (although she's a money snob, despite herself) and Jack Davenport (whom Ripley murders).
by Anonymous | reply 16 | October 26, 2014 6:58 AM
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[quote]and no star charisma either.
r9 he was playing a character with identity issues. He wasn't supposed to have charisma. He wasn't even supposed to have a character until he adopts Dickie's later in the film.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | October 26, 2014 7:02 AM
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The part that really moved me was Tom's final scene with Jack Davenport. Jack was so lovely.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | October 26, 2014 7:49 AM
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This is the only film in which I can abide GOOP. She seemed natural and likable for once. Why is that the case in this one film?
by Anonymous | reply 19 | October 26, 2014 2:30 PM
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She's playing herself, that's why.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | October 26, 2014 5:50 PM
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The real star of the show were the Armani outfits.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 21 | October 26, 2014 6:01 PM
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[quote]He's competent, projecting awkwardness, ambition, longing, whatever the scene calls for, but no more. There are no little touches of genius, nothing to make the character fascinating, and no star charisma either. All the other actors blow him off the screen, even Gwynneth.
My feeling about Matt is that he can play a character capably if it's there on the page, but he doesn't have the innate personality to bring just any character to life. He doesn't have any quirkiness to draw on.
I think the difficulty in this movie is that Ripley is sometimes written as the sociopath from Highsmith's book, and sometimes as a sad little gay boy who is in over his head.
Ryan Gosling might have been a good Ripley, though maybe he'd be too obviously evil.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | October 26, 2014 6:49 PM
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I saw some of the movie the other day and thought Cate seemed very mannered in it -- something I've begun to feel about all of her performances in the wake of Blue Jasmine.
PSH on the other hand was even better than I remembered. What a loss.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | October 26, 2014 6:52 PM
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With Ripley and The English Patient, Minghella adapted two great novels and turned them into B+ films.
He shifted the focus in The English Patient away from the subplot I preferred and in Ripley he completely fucked the ending which is nothing like the book.
Both films were beautiful to look at and contained good performances but Minghella changed too much about the source material. Sometimes a good director/screenwriter can work miracles on a mediocre novel, but Minghella's changes diminished those wonderful originals.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | October 26, 2014 7:10 PM
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GP is obnoxious, but in this movie she shows that she can be quite a good actress. Marge begins as a decorative character, but evolves during the movie, becoming frightened, angry and vulnerable.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | October 26, 2014 7:56 PM
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I just love this movie so much. I re-watched it yesterday. Jack Davenport is FINE!
by Anonymous | reply 26 | November 30, 2018 8:55 PM
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[quote] I wonder what perfume Tom was bringing to Marj.
Forever Krystle.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | November 30, 2018 9:06 PM
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This is an iconic movie. How it didn’t sweep the 2000 Academy Awards is puzzling.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | November 30, 2018 9:10 PM
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Jude wasn't shy about flashing his big hairy cock from what I remember!
by Anonymous | reply 29 | November 30, 2018 10:32 PM
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I've seen this movie many times over the years. And every time I come to the same conclusion - that the only thing that keeps it from being a great film is Matt Damon.
He was good... when he needed to be great.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | November 30, 2018 10:41 PM
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What's interesting is that Dickie did the same flirty dance with Peter Smith Kingsley at some point before the beginning of the film: Marge comments on constantly losing Dickie to his newest friend, and she specifically mentions Peter. Makes you wonder if the elegant and well-bred Peter got into Dickie's pants in a way poor, sadsack Tom just couldn't.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | December 1, 2018 1:44 AM
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Anyone else who thinks Tom Ripley had Asperger's?
by Anonymous | reply 33 | December 1, 2018 5:29 PM
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No, R33: absolutely no one thinks that.
And for whatever it's worth, I think Law is the weakest part of this film. He's a beautiful bore. It's a profoundly lazy characterization. He might as well be playing himself. I think Damon's performance is underrated. There's definitely more than one-noted longing going on. The criticism that everything is on the surface with his Ripley is, I think, the point. Ripley is pure calculation. There's nothing genuine about him.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 1, 2018 5:51 PM
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