News on The Talented Mr. Ripley

Coming to you this Christmas.

A particularly astute assessment of Matt's performance in Ripley, as appeared in an article about Oscar Hopefuls in the Daily Variety on 1/4/2000:

MATT DAMON
In the Christmas Day release "The Talented Mr. Ripley," Matt Damon doesn�t just take on one role - he takes on several.

He plays Tom Ripley, a young man with a distorted self-image and an unusual gift for insinuating himself into other people�s lives. Ripley so idolizes carefree playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), he eventually takes over Dickie�s life - with disastrous results.

Academy Award winning-director Anthony Minghella (the 1996 "The English Patient") helms "Ripley," which he also adapted from Patricia Highsmith�s suspense novel.

"One of the extraordinary things about what Matt�s done is the series of transformations he made," Minghella says. "They�re not pyrotechnic or splashy; they�re very subtle transitions. He was very careful not to go for a cartoon impersonation, but to find what was essential about the characters Ripley played.

"Certain things are emphasized in the transition," he says, "and the thing most emphasized to me is what�s familiar about Ripley, as opposed to what�s strange about him; what�s human rather than what�s monstrous.

"I think the combination of Matt�s own natural empathy as an actor and my sense of trying to talk about what was recognizable in Ripley�s aspirations have made a certain change in the way he travels through the film. He�s much more burdened by the consequences of what he does than perhaps is evident in the novel."

In 1998, Damon won a Golden Globe and Academy Award for the script of "Good Will Hunting," which he co-wrote with longtime friend Ben Affleck. Damon also earned Globe and Oscar noms for actor for his work in the title role.

- Terri Roberts

Summary: A complex, multi-layered work of art

Comment: It is the hallmark of director Minghella's films that people walk out of the theater divided in their opinions. That was the case with "The English Patient" (remember Elaine of "Seinfeld"? And now, with "Ripley", you have people who relish the film on one hand, and then there are people who just couldn't stand it.
This movie is like one of those either-you-see-it-or-you-don't pictures: it is a kaleidoscope of imageries, complex meanings, and musical arguments; it is a treatise of the darkness of the human condition and the human heart. It is an art-house movie that has been boldly introduced into the mass market through the clever use of likable actors, breathtaking cinematography, and excellent technicalities all around. If you prefer a story straightly told, with no loose ends untied, then this movie is not for you. But if you keep your mind open, if you are willing to allow the movie to unfold before you, and then let it simmer in your head for days after, you may find yourself mulling over the nuances of the film more and more after your first viewing, as the meanings of one thing after another start to dawn on you.
On the acting: If you have seen Damon in his previous films and especially if you have caught him in his TV appearances, you will appreciate just how fine a performance he has put in here. Sure, Jude Law got the glamorous role - and hence a lot of the adulations - but Damon's portrait of Ripley, as perceived by Minghella, is nothing short of brilliant. My take is that he took on this role - even after "Good Will Hunting" had made him a star - to shed his "heartthrob" image, and to show the world that he is a serious actor. Damon may have lost a few former fans with this film, but I will bet that he has gained a few others, and a whole lot of respect from other quarters.
The soundtrack is superior as well. I recommend it highly.

• Summary of Ripley Reviews/Interviews
• Summary of Ripley Reviews/Interviews - continued
• An interview of Matt that appeared on the TNT's roughcut.com site

Lyrics of the song "Tu vuo' f� ll'americano" featureed in the movie can be found here. There's also a rough translation. Also, lyrics of My Funny Valentine.

For all the exciting items that transpired with the opening of Ripley, click here.

12/10/99 Well, the opening day is Christmas, and the buzz is going full-till. I will be keeping track of the reviews and the interviews that will be hitting us very soon.

The premiere.

Reviews

• Not exactly a Harry Knowles fan normally, I must say that I was impressed with his <"http://aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=4936"> Ain't-It-Cool-Site review of Ripley - I just read it. Excellent observations from one who understood what the film is about.
• A review in the IMDB.
• A college review that came up on 1/14 - highly supportive of Matt.
• One of the best reviews for Matt was from Ron Weiskind of the Pittsburg Gazette, copied here for keepsake.
• Yet another glowing report can be found in the San Franciso Chronicle, copied here.
• Fox411 review, by Roger Friedman, which appeared on foxnews.com on Dec. 10, 1999.
• Liz Smith's review, Dec. 10, 1999.
• Daily Variety's review, Dec. 14, 1999.
• Dark Horizons' review, Dec. 14, 1999.
• Hollywood Reporter's review, Dec. 14, 1999.
• And yet one more rave review of Matt's performance in Ripley.
• A nice review of Ripley on the CNN site: click here.
• Janet Maslin (an important film critic) of the New York Times entitled her Ripley review thus: 'The Talented Mr. Ripley': Carnal, Glamorous and Worth the Price'.
• "Damon's performance as this chameleonic Ripley is one of the film's true delights, especially in a scene in which Damon eerily re-creates Chet Baker's famously breathless, falsetto version of the jazz standard "My Funny Valentine." - James Verniere of the Boston Herald, who didn't like the movie that much, but gave it 3/4 stars nevertheless.
• Roger Ebert gave the film a 4-star rating, though he had little specific to say about Matt. (However, in his television show Ebert singled out Matt's performance, and referred to him as "the talented Matt Damon").
• Boston Globe, Matt's hometown paper, has the expected praise for the film and for Matt, see here. Sacramento Bee's review
• the Orange Country Register review
• A nice review of Ripley from the geniuses at UC Davis.
• And now one of the most astute analyses of "Ripley", from a posting on a usenet newsgroup - SPOILER ALERT:

  From [email protected] Fri Jan 21 07:20:48 PST 2000
  Article: 194740 of rec.arts.movies.current-films
  Subject: Re: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
  Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.current-films
  

  Yes, I say excellent movie! Beautifully set and shot, great performances (except Gwyneth, not much to work with) and a strange but palpable suspense. It's not the kind of suspense where you wonder who will get it, or what will happen, but more about what lengths and depths Damon's character will go to to preserve his lies. The film also is a lot more linear and accessible than Minghella's other highly acclaimed effort, The English Patient. I was really intrigued by the way the movie made Damon's character into a protagonist, albeit an amoral one. I was really routing (sic) for him at times. But the movie also does a great job of building a sense of frustration, rather than tension, in the suspensful theme. Everytime Damon digs himself one foot deeper, I couldn't help thinking what he could have done to avoid or mitigate the situation.
  I'll disagree that Damon's character is a criminal genius. Quite to the contrary, it's the lack of real intelligence or social skills that gets him into the mess he's in. Sure, he's talented at mimicry and mostly lucky, but his choices and despair show that he really is a nobody and out of control and acts in the most irrational, morally unreflective way. But still, when he's on the boat and going to Greece with the composer, I was semi-cheering "He made it! I can't believe he made it!" But when he sees Blanchette's character I thought, "just tell her that you were pretending to be Dickie and blow her off. It doesn't matter what she thinks or feels about it." But then we know what he does instead. Quite a tragic story, for Tom.
• And the sentiment is echoed in yet another review, as described by a big Matt fan:
  I finally received my subscription copy of the February Premier and was delighted to discover an extraordinarily positive review of Ripley by Glenn Kenny.

  The Talented Mr. Ripley

  Being John Malkovich got to the question first--well, not first, of course, but first as far as the late-1999 movie season was concerned. The question: What would it be like to be someone else--and how do you get there? Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley was, and is, one of the most trenchant works to address this question, and director-screenwriter Anthony Minghella's film of that book is a strangely wondrous achievement. Far superior to Minghella's last, much-touted effort, The English Patient, Ripley doesn't flinch for a minute at the unsavory implications of the aforementioned question, and that makes this movie about discomfiting a "prestige film" as one could imagine.

  Minghella's loose but emotionally focused reimagining of the plot--in which a desultory young Tom Ripley is recruited from a dead-end life in 1950s New York and dispatched to a glamour-drenched Italy to fetch back a fallen son, whom Ripley decides he'd rather replace than return--successfully hits a lot of risky notes, including the homoerotic attraction Ripley feels for his eventual prey, the beautiful but shallow Dickie Greenleaf. But the real beauty of Minghella's treatment of this ultimately horrifying story is the way he allows his actors to run away with it. Matt Damon's Ripley is a revelation, and not just as far as Damon's talent is concerned--there's never been a movie character quite like this before. Ripley has been adapted previously, by Rene Clement with 1960's Purple Noon, starring Alain Delon. But with Delon being Delon, audiences knew he was the Devil the second he stepped into the frame. Damon does something completely different, and terrifying: He delineates the path from wannabe to sociopath as he assumes the identity of Greenleaf. Jude Law gorgeously incarnates Greenleaf as a strange hybrid of beauty and insipidness. Gwyneth Paltrow demonstrates not merely her talent but also her modesty in the mostly unshowy role of Marge, Greenleaf's girlfriend. Philip Seymour Hoffman stuns once again, nailing a certain species of American vagabond, the comfortable heir of Ivy League privilege. These phenomenal talents enact a scenario that, in its own quiet way, is as wrenching as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho--more wrenching, in a way, because Ripley's class and status envy is a lot easier to empathize with than Norman Bate's mother love. "Madame Bovary, c'est moi," Flaubert once said of his spectacularly shallow creation. Minghella's--and Damon's--triumph here is in making Ripleys of us all.

  Quotes

  • Tony Minghella, upon the announcement of the 1999 Golden Globe nominations (in which Ripley received 5, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor): "I felt particular pressure coming off 'The Rnglish Patient." "And I'm so pround of Matt. His is an incredibly unfalshy performance ... he dignified the role."
  • Amthony Minghella's follow-up to his Oscar-winning adaptation of the English Patient is a stylish Hitchcockian thriller that is as beartiful as it is creepy. Based on ... a novel of the same name, The Talented Mr. Ripley stars a hunky teen hearthrob (Matt Damon) ...
    "Damon is spectacular as the spine-chilling chameleon Ripley. I alway thought his acting chops were a bit overrated, but with this role he establishes himself as one of the better young actors in Hollwod. Law is entirely believable as a snooty rich-boy, but Paltrow is just annoying... Most enjoyable perhaps is Philip Seymour Hoffman ... Complementating Damon's performance is a top-notch production team ... that captures a strikingly beautiful '50s Italy. The film is aglow woth bright, sunny color, the water is always blue [even in the bathtub] - Jon Popick, http://www.sick-boy.com, who rated the film 8 out of 10.
  • Matt Damon plays a sociopath with uncanny - and quite spooky -- ease. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tom Ripley become a recurring antihero -- like a Hannibal Lecter should be... Sequels or no, Damon is so dead-on scary that Hollywood likely shudders to be alone with him.
    Gwyneth Paltrow, on the other hand, is fairly useless in her role... It's just too bad she had to muck up a perfrectly good movie like this one. - Christopher Null, http://www.filmcritic.com, who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars
  • Lisa Schwartzbaum from EW put Ripley tenth on her best of the year list:
     
    Anthony Minghella's beautiful, unsettling take on Patricia Highsmith's modern mystery classic is, in its way, the perfect bookend to ''All About My Mother.'' The first is all about women who are true to themselves. This chiller -- a mesmerizing tango for Matt Damon and Jude Law -- is all about the dark slipperiness of men. Minghella sustains Highsmith's unnerving psychic state of treacherous chameleonhood with exceptional confidence; the director also creates a gorgeous-looking picture, one that lulls us and then undoes us much as Damon's Ripley does -- with black charm.
  • From http://216.33.236.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=&lah=4373e07c74fb2d9844e50ea6f08c52e6&lat=945490937&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2echickclick%2ecom the double-click site(excerpt):

    Matt Damon is absolutely mesmerizing in this film; despite the fact that he's often sharing the screen with tantalizing eye-candy like pristine Italian seascapes, Gwyneth's beautiful clothes and Jude's naked butt, I could barely take my eyes off him. With this role, he's created a character who's impossible to forget: a killer who is desperate but not cold-blooded, a bitter, twisted outsider whose yearning for love and the good life we nevertheless completely understand. Can you say Oscar nomination?

  • Mark Harris of EW writes of the six best performances of the year, and includes Matt:

    5. Matt Damon in ''The Talented Mr. Ripley.'' ''Ripley'' is a movie bursting with great performances -- Jude Law's seductively arrogant golden boy, Philip Seymour Hoffman's pompously puffy preppy, even a tiny, luminous turn as a runaway heiress by Cate Blanchett (looking more than ever like she's got the stuff that greats are made of). But Damon tops them all as the reticent, charmingly nervous big dreamer with a heart of darkness. Gone is the swagger of ''Good Will Hunting'' and the healthy gleam of ''Saving Private Ryan''; in ''Ripley,'' Damon tiptoes softly into areas that most other actors would crush underfoot, and does his best work ever.

  • Not only does Damon play out of character as a sociopath, Patrow too renounces her usually tougher roles for the part of a vulnerable woman who becomes trapped in the center of a whirlwind that she doesn't understand. All of the acting is superb, but it is Damon's Oscar quality work that stands out the most... In a sonderfully nuanced performance, Damon reveals much while seeming to reveal little about Tom. -Steve Rhodes, http://www.InternetReviews.com, who gave the film 3-1/2 out of 5 *s
  • Even his((Matt's) face seems changed. And when his character sings a very breathy, asexual My Funny Valentine number ... mama mia, that's some acting! - ERIC FLOREN, Toronto Express Writer.
  • The performances are nearly flawless. Damon is a remarkable surprise. The boy-you-want-to-take-home-to-mom has transformed himself into a creature sinister and untouchable, and conveys his evil with a casual glance or easy head movement.
    ... (The beach scene) provides director-screenwriter Anthony Minghella ample opportunity to show off the physical attributes of his three stars, including Damon's legs, freshly shaved - along with other parts - to match Jude Law's).
    Jude Law has earned an Oscar nomination. (this is by no means meant as a slight to Damon, because I will state unhisitatingly that Matt Damon has earned an Oscar nomination for the Talented Mr. Ripley. He may well receive it, too.) -Christian Leopold, The tripod site. - Jeanne Aufmuth, Palo Alto Weekly
  • "Damon is not the standard issue Hollywood pretty boy; there has always been a working class toughness about him, which makes him absolutely right for this role. His boyish smile hides something sinister underneath, as he insinuates himself into the very fabric of Dickie�s life." The Reel Site, which gives the film an A rating.
  • "At the end of the day, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a rich, complex, suspenseful movie full of beautiful art direction and solid acting. Matt Damon and Anthony Minghella should be congratulated on having stuck by such a potentially controversial story and for having told it with such grace. I think this is the second best movie of 1999 (as of December 10). By all means, go see it at any price." - The Buzz
  • The fact that stars were using their pull to get into the screening shows that "Mr Ripley" will be a strong contender at the Oscars. Everybody who is anybody in Hollywood wants to see The Talented Mr. Ripley.
  • "But it's the performances that really carry Mr. Ripley... Primarily it is Damon's picture: He's in nearly every scene, and the camera spends more time examining his face that it does on tall the other characters combined. And that's where most of the story plays out. There is a stunning moment about halfway through when Tom's two lives collide. The panic in his eyes is understandable: With Major prison time at stake, he's right to be terrified. But ehn we realize from his look that it's not the legal repercussions he fears; it's the social embarrassment." - Andy Klein, newtimesla.com
  • "Why would a budding superstar like Matt Damon take on the role of a psychotic homosexual, and how does he do it so damn good? He manages to make Ripley reprehensivle and likealble at the same time. You can't help but root for him to get away with it all." - Christopher Brandon, Roughcut, who gave the film a $7.0 out of $7.5 rating.
  • Too many to capture all - see reviews.

  Articles and Interviews

  • another Ripley article on About.com
    . (Note: This is a terrific article.)
    
  • Interview on e-online.
  • This article appeared in USA Today the Friday before the Golden Globes.
  • This article, DAMON CLIMBS OUT ON LIMB WITH `MR. RIPLEY', appeared in the 1/21/00 Chicago Tribute.
  • There is a great article in iF Magazine about Matt Damon that you may want to check out. It's called "The Killer Smile" which is a play on Damon's character in The Talented Mr. Ripley. (Thanks, Melanie!)
  • a great "swoon-worthy" article from the Bergen Record, found by Felicity can be read by clicking .
  • A nice, long interview which appeared in the Washington Post on 12/19.
  • Anything Goes ... for the talented Mr. Damon by Bob Strauss, the L.A. Daily News.
  • Star Watch:Matt Damon by Mark Kennedy, AP Writer, posted on yahoo on 12/22/99.
  • An article which appeared in the Sunday Magazine of the NY Times, 12/12/99. (Photos may not be ready - but they are nice.)
  • The 12/99 Advocate interview by Brendan Lemon.
  • The Talented Mr. Damon by Louis B. Hobson, Calgary Sun, 12/18/99.
  • At One With The Stranger by Eric Harrison, Sunday L.A. Times, 12/19/99.
  • The Talented Mr.Damon", by Eric Floren, found on the Toronto Jam site, 12/19/99.
  • "Looking Good not part of actor's manual", Bob Thompson, Toronto Sun.
  • Ripley's Baby-Faced Killer, by Karen Butler, United Press.
  • Swinging for the Wall by Barry Koltnow, the Orange County Register.
  7/16/99 Dark Horizons has more Ripley pics during the week, very similar to older ones.

  From the NY Post:

  Reel rage
  CAST and crew of Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow's latest flick, "The Talented Mr. Ripley," watched in horror Friday as an episode of psychotic road rage unfolded in front of them. Tempers flared because traffic was stopped during filming at Central Park West and 82nd. When cars were finally allowed to pass, a gypsy cab started blocking traffic. Suddenly, a man in a suit and tie jumped out of a yellow cab, screamed curses, and hauled the gypsy driver out and beat him. Cops broke up the melee but there were no arrests.
  7/12/99 There is a review of a test screening of "Ripley" on Ain't It Cool News. This particular reviewer gave the screened version a mixed review, complaining about the length and the pacing of the film, yet prasing the strong performances of the actors and a surprising ending. The reviewer also wrote that he/she warmed up to the film once the story gets going. Overall, the reviewer seemed to think that the film holds good promises and could be improved upon. The version shown apparently was very preliminary, and did not even have the accompanying music. I think we should expect to hear all kinds of angles taken on this film, given the unconventional nature of it and its controversial subject.

  4/10/99 A thoughtful article which appeared in the 4/8 London Guardian - unfortuntely the reference to Matt is not exactly flattering.

  1/22/99 Delia in Italy very kindly sent me a note to share an article in an Italian magazine:

  Hi, this is Delia from Italy, i have just finished reading an Interview of Matt to an Italian Magazine dated this month.

  Basically Matt says he is very happy about his growing success,even though he is not used to it yet.A success become huge after the Oscar,he recognizes his life's changed since then,but despite of some colleagues he doesn't complain about the otehr side of success.

  He also talks about Ben and how important their friendship is. The interviewer asks if after shooting"Rounders" he has been seduced by gambling,Matt says"Gambling has never attracted me,nevertheless in our show bussiness imany people like it;anyway if i had ever wanted to try it,shooting this movie would have changed my mind".Ed(Norton) and I wandered all New York greasy spoons to better understand this environment,and it is shocking to see how people ruin themselves by gambling.........
  There is also a question about Wynona:"do you want a family with Wynona?";here's his answer:"She is a delicious girl,and as everybody knows we oftef go out together;but sorry this is something that belongs to my private life......." Pfffff he never goes too far!!.
  I am also sending some pics that were on this magazine.

  Ciao
  Delia

  Note: I tried downloading the photos that accompanied the email,but without success. These are casual shots of Matt during the filming of Ripley. One shows Matt in front of (presumably) his trailer, with Kate Blanchet whose back is turned to the camera. Another is a full-length shot of Matt in that dark suit, holding up his hand as if to say "please do not take picture" (sorry, Matt, that's fame for you). Then there are two of Matt walking with Winnona - with plenty of air space between them. Matt is in white T and jeans, and a baseball cap. You wouldn't recognize him if you saw him like that on the street.

  If you are interested in seeing these photos, email me and I will forward the mail - I don't know if the pictures will come out that way, however.