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“Ripley’s Reviews” is an ongoing series where I will review every book in Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripley” Series, as well as multiple screen adaptations of the novels. I will post my reviews on the first Thursday of the month, and delve into the twisted mind of one Tom Ripley and all the various interpretations that he has come to life within. Up next is the first film adaptation of a “Ripley” book I’m covering, the 1999 film “The Talented Mr. Ripley”.
Film: “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999)
I remember when “The Talented Mr. Ripley” came out. I was a freshman in high school, and Matt Damon was still riding high off of his turns in “Good Will Hunting” and “Saving Private Ryan” (and “Dogma” for this Kevin Smith fan, though it would be a couple years later that I fully dove into his whole deal). When I saw a trailer for “The Talented Mr. Ripley” it all seemed like another prestigious dramatic role for him, but then we got a pretty creepy turn as it went on and my 14 year old self was scandalized but intrigued. Toss in some Gwyneth Paltrow and a very new to me Jude Law (I was swooning) and I wanted to see it….. But didn’t get around to it until much later in life. I wanted to start with this film in my reviews of the films because it was the one that got Tom Ripley on my radar in the first place, and I was curious to see how it would hold up. AKA I was curious to see if it was actually as gay coded as I remembered and if it was as good of an adaptation I remembered. And I have great news: yes to both!
There are a number of changes that the film makes from the book, some of which work for me while others do not. I’ll start with what I did like in terms of changes. The first is that this movie really leans in to the whole ‘Tom is very much in obsessive love with Dickie’, and given how Ripley has been seen as a queer character even though Highsmith claimed he wasn’t this definitely worked. It makes it so that Tom’s longing isn’t only about coveting the things that he cannot have in terms of wealth and power, but also coveting a person that he cannot have. I’m not certain that it makes him seem more sympathetic (he’s still killing people, and one murder is particularly upsetting and ties into his identity), but it does make for a bit of a more complex character as the movie goes on. I definitely felt some pity for him as he pined for Dickie and is desperate for his affection and companionship, and thought that Damon played that angle of Tom really well. I also quite enjoyed the addition of Meredith (played by the iconic Cate Blanchett), a charming and naíve socialite that Tom meets almost immediately in Italy and impulsively passes himself off as Dickie towards her not an hour after arriving, which causes problems down the line. She kind of felt a bit like Heloise, Tom’s clueless but pretty nice wife in the books. Blanchett is always fantastic, and I really loved Meredith, even if she was a bit of a dope. But then she had no reason to not believe Tom, and it’s another layer of his manipulation skills that adds to his horribleness. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Marge is also expanded upon, and I really enjoyed seeing the direction that they take her, especially when it comes to her suspicions towards Tom as the story goes on.
But that leads into one of the changes that didn’t work as well for me, and that is how they basically assassinated Dickie’s character in this. In the book he is definitely a cad, and is blinded by his own privilege. But the movie REALLY trashes him. He’s unintelligent, condescending towards Marge, he’s having an affair with a local woman who he also impregnates, which leads to her killing herself because he refuses to take responsibility, and then when we get to the boat scene where Tom kills him with an oar, it is changed a bit to make it seem like Tom hit him in a moment of hurt and desperation and regretted it, only for Dickie to try and kill him. Which makes Tom fighting back and killing him a little easier to swallow. By making Dickie a villain in his own right it really takes away from Tom’s own reprehensible nature (that isn’t to say he doesn’t make up for it; there is a scene before the end of the film that makes it clear Tom has passed the point of no return that was chilling as hell). I just kind of felt back for the way book Dickie is thrown under the bus by film Dickie. Jude Law really is the perfect cad, though.
All in all I really enjoyed this adaptation! It’s eerie and unsettling, and I think that it’s a great portrayal of what Tom Ripley is, while giving him a little more complexity. Next up I’m going to tackle the 1960 film “Purple Noon”, the first adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”!
The Library Ladies 