"The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a wonderfully accomplished work that's unconvincing at its core. A lack of nerve, or perhaps a difference in temperament between filmmaker and author, has resulted in a beautifully mounted and directed film that, despite the presence of Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, is unexpectedly lacking in emotional impact.
Presented with one of the most unnerving, breathtakingly amoral characters in modern literature, writer-director Anthony Minghella worried that the audience would resist committing themselves to such a chilling protagonist. So he monkeyed with the delicate balance of forces and personalities that make the novel memorable, a move that ended up backfiring and making Tom Ripley less interesting rather than more.
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Ripley and his chilling adventures are the subject of five novels by the late Patricia High-smith, whose first book, "Strangers on a Train," was turned into the memorable Alfred Hitchcock film. Other filmmakers have been attracted to the Highsmith series; Alain Delon starred in an earlier version of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (Rene Clement's "Purple Noon") and Wim Wenders did a version of "Ripley's Game," the Dennis Hopper-starring "The American Friend."
Writer-director Minghella, in his first film since the Oscar-winning "The English Patient," would seem to be an excellent choice for this project, and in many ways he is. Working with such top-of-the-line collaborators as cinematographer John Seale, editor Walter Murch, composer Gabriel Yared, production designer Roy Walker and costume designers Ann Roth and Gary Jones, Minghella has a fine grasp of both the film's gorgeous Italian atmosphere and its complex narrative line.
If only there was a compelling protagonist, all would be well. But there isn't.
"Ripley" begins in Manhattan in 1958 with Tom (Damon) borrowing a Princeton blazer to accompany a singer at a tony reception. Eyeing the jacket, shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) asks if Tom knew his son Dickie Greenleaf at the school.
Not only did Ripley not know young Greenleaf, he didn't go to Princeton and is presently employed as a men's room attendant. Naturally, he admits to none of this and when Greenleaf senior offers him $1,000 to go to Italy and convince his wastrel son, whose "only talent is for spending his allowance," to come home, Tom is eager to agree.
