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The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

tomatometer

83

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 127
Fresh: 105 | Rotten: 22

With Matt Damon's unsettling performance offering a darkly twisted counterpoint to Anthony Minghella's glossy direction, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a suspense thriller that lingers.

78

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 7

With Matt Damon's unsettling performance offering a darkly twisted counterpoint to Anthony Minghella's glossy direction, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a suspense thriller that lingers.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 114,067

My Rating

Movie Info

After the Oscar-winning The English Patient, writer/director Anthony Minghella attempted another tricky literary adaptation with The Talented Mr. Ripley, which features heartthrob Matt Damon cast against type as a psychopathic bisexual murderer. Tom Ripley (Damon) is a bright and charismatic sociopath who makes his way in mid-'50s New York City as a men's room attendant and sometimes pianist, though his real skill is in impersonating other people, forging handwriting, and running second-rate

Jun 27, 2000

Paramount Pictures

Cast

All Critics (128) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (23) | DVD (27)

Familiarity is the watchword of this overblown opus, which neglects holes in the plot to play up its postmodern theme of identity as pastiche -- a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.

March 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (2)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

On balance, The Talented Mr. Ripley is worth seeing more for its undeniably delightful journey than its final destination.

April 27, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
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It's a gorgeously unsettling film. You can hide in the shadows, but luminescence exposes who you are, and the only escape is into another identity.

August 7, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
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Even before its release, The Talented Mr. Ripley has attracted some mighty serious analytic attention.

April 25, 2003 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If anybody can create sympathy for the devil, the angelic Matt Damon can.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
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Performances are aces top to bottom.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
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Full of murder and deceit; too violent for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

The blend of Minghella's gloss and Damon's steel results in a psychological thriller of huge style and depth. A very good movie.

March 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

This is certainly no fast-paced nail-biting thriller, but much rather a slow-paced intriguing drama very reminiscent of Hitchcock films.

January 15, 2008 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | Comment
Dark Horizons

Ripley morphs into a well-meaning kid who yearns to be somebody. He's deprived, not depraved.

September 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

The Talented Mr. Ripley is lovely wrapping without much to say.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment
Big Picture Big Sound

Not only is it an elegantly polished affair, with top notch performances all round, and magnificent camerawork and editing, it's also acutely aware of how class, money and sex shape desire and resentment.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

The Master of Suspense would never have turned in a movie this sloppy.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment (1)
Combustible Celluloid

When Law leaves in the middle, the whole film just sags.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

Minghella, once again, shows his eclectic talents.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | Comment
Reeling Reviews

In a career-making performance, the saxophone-blowing, tantrum-throwing Law plays Dickie with such vigor and energy that when he exits, the light dims slightly from the film...

May 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | Comment
Hollywood.com

We all knew Damon was a fine actor after Good Will Hunting, but The Talented Mr. Ripley takes him much further much faster than anyone could have expected.

June 19, 2003 Full Review | Comment
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

In a starry line-up it's Jude Law who commands most presence, playing the charmer so well that his absence in the latter half leaves a gaping void.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: BBC | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Talented Mr. Ripley

Utter stupidity that I can't believe I actually liked for a while.

April 24, 2010
movieguru12
Cassie Hill

Super Reviewer

This movie was just a ten hour long bore fest for me. I did not care for the plot and the acting was wooden, the characters irritating and the entire movie far too long. The twist was good, but come on when you've literally had to wait hours to find it out, there is very little flavour left. Some movies are meant to be

August 25, 2011
theunknownhobo
Unknown Hobo

Super Reviewer

    1. Marge Sherwood: Why is it when men play together, they always try to kill each other?
    2. Dickie Greenleaf: [jokingly] He's drowning me!
    – Submitted by Augusta M (36 days ago)
    1. Peter Smith-Kingsley: That Dickie murdered you and took your name with a false passport? That's ridiculous.
    – Submitted by Augusta M (36 days ago)
    1. Herbert Greenleaf: People say you can't choose your parents, but I believe you can't choose your children.
    – Submitted by Augusta M (36 days ago)
    1. Tom Ripley: It's better to be a fake somebody, than a real nobody!
    – Submitted by Nikki P (7 months ago)
    1. Meredith Logue: We should always save pain for daylight.
    – Submitted by Aneth F (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Der talentierte Mr. Ripley (DE)
  • The Talented Mr Ripley (UK)
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