Review of The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella

The first time I had watched The Talented Mr. Ripley, I was in the middle of my gap year between undergrad and graduate school. I’d taken an entire year off because I graduated early from college, and it was still in the era of COVID, so it made sense to just sit and home and think about how I could cultivate myself intellectually and build a freelance writing career up before I was forced to join the work force.

And during that year off, I watched a ton of movies in the meantime. We’re talking about two hundred movies over the course of the year, as I simply had a ton of time to sit around and contemplate my life decisions.

And, of course, one of those movies was The Talented Mr. Ripley. I was inspired to rewatch it lately because of the comparisons between it and another movie I had watched in the past few weeks: Saltburn.

I loved Saltburn’s aesthetics a little too much, but the plot mirrors some elements of this movie’s, hence the need to rewatch. Both are unique in their own ways, though.

I’ve rambled enough already. Let’s get into the review!

Tom Ripley pretends to be a wealthy boy’s friend, using his cunning attitude to get what he wants.

The Talented Mr. Ripley opens at the end of the fifties, in New York City. The protagonist, Tom, finds himself in a conversation with a very wealthy man named Herbert.

Despite this not being true at all, Herbert has convinced himself that Tom is a former classmate of his son, especially as Tom is wearing a Princeton jacket he borrowed from someone else. Herbert gives Tom the money to go off to Italy to find his son Dickie, as he wants Dickie to come back home to him.

Starting from day one, at the cruise liner, Tom pretends to be Dickie, and finds company with a socialite named Meredith under this alias.

When Tom arrives in Italy, he finds Dickie hanging out in the seaside with his girlfriend. He claims to be a classmate, continuing the lie he started with the father, and becomes friends with Dickie.

They continue hanging out together, but one day Dickie becomes tired of Tom and hangs out with another rich guy named Freddie. Dickie goes off to a trip to Rome, but when he comes back to his place, he discovers Tom wearing his clothes, which really freaks him out.

At the same time, Dickie gets a local girl pregnant, and she drowns herself when she realizes that.

Dickie’s father cuts off financial support of his travels, and Dickie tells Tom this is the end. He agrees to go on one final trip with Tom to San Remo, and they get on a boat together. There, Tom insists that they have something magical, despite Dickie refusing and telling him that he wants to marry his girlfriend.

As they get into an argument, Tom kills Dickie with one of the oars, takes all of his stuff, and then assumes his identity. He sends a letter to Marge saying he’s left her behind for Rome, and then he starts making a trail to make it seem like Dickie is alive. He also withdraws money as Dickie, relying on his mother to survive.

But in Rome, he runs into Meredith, who still thinks he’s Dickie. There, he goes to the opera with her and runs into Dickie’s girlfriend, but gets away before she notices him.

Freddie also shows up to the apartment after hearing Dickie is living there, realizes that Tom is living in it, and puts two and two together. Tom is forced to kill him, and when the body is found, the police come to find Dickie.

Tom forges a suicide note, killing Dickie off metaphorically again, and then heads to Venice.

He runs into Peter there, who’s friends with Marge. Dickie’s father comes to Italy to figure out what happened, and the police are convinced that Dickie killed Freddie before offing himself, putting Tom in a much better situation.

His father then trusts Tom with the trust fund in attempt to buy his silence. Tom lives a much nicer life because of it, and when on a ship with Peter, who is his new lover, he runs into Meredith. She still thinks he’s Dickie, and when Peter witnesses the encounter, Tom has to kill Peter. The movie ends with that.

Overall Thoughts

I loved The Talented Mr. Ripley the first time I watched it on Netflix, and I think the second viewing holds up just as well.

I want to read the original Patricia Highsmith novels now, but I think that this movie is Matt Damon in his element. I’ve seen him in a few other movies throughout the years, but I think this is the first role that I’ve seen him in that I’ve actively nodded along to and thought that this was a good casting.

Anyways, it’s a solid movie that investigates how far someone would go for not only money, but to keep up a lie as well. Watch it if you haven’t already.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.