Ripley's Game
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Movie Reviews of Ripley's Game
Movie Review: A perfect test of Highsmith's theory
Summary: 4 Stars
Patricia Highsmith, who wrote Ripley's Game, thought that any human was capable of murder given the right set of circumstances. Thus her book, Ripley's Game, puts her theory to the test. This excellent film version is very well done, primiarily by maintaining focus on the central theme that Highsmith wished to explore and not getting caught in Hollywood special effects and gory details.
In this film, we have the wonderful Highsmith creation, Tom Ripley, the young man who finds that he is a complete sociopath and then finds complete enjoyment in acting upon his homicidal impulses. Ripley is an interesting character. He is a highly refined and intelligent sociopath. Thus he is able to maintain an ice cool philosophical view of the murders he commits. He asks whether the world is worse off or change by the murders he commits and decides that human life is worth very little in the larger cosmic picture. He has no guilt, no remorse, only morbid curiosity and a desire to live a life of composure among art treasures, Tuscan palaces, antiquities, exquisite gardens, and a beautiful and talented lover.
In this film, Ripley is contrasted with an Italian picture framer who is a young husband and father slowly dying from leukemia. This young man makes the mistake of insulting Ripley at a neighborhood cocktail party and sets the stage to become a play-thing in Ripley's games of murder. This is the test of Highsmith's theory that anyone can be a murderer given the right set of circumstances. Ripley finds that the young man is dying and that he is concerned for the financial support of his young wife and child after he is gone. Ripley then involves they fellow in series of well paid assassintations.
John Malkvich is excellent at playing Tom Ripley, very cool and sophisticated in his homicidal mode. Dougray Scott is excellent as the young father, pushed into extreme circumstances. Yet there is a price and consequences for anyone who leads a normal life and then commits a terrible crime. Dougray Scott's character pays far more that his journey than he every expects. He may be good at murder but he is not good at hiding himself from his wife.
The film is entertaining and beautifully filmed in the Italian countryside.
Movie Review: Searching for Patricia Highsmith
Summary: 4 Stars
Patricia Highsmith is one of those novelists whose time, unfortunately, has come posthumously. Though she died in 1996, it has only been recently that her gifts as a novelist have been appreciated. Much of her core writing examined the psyches of homosexual characters, never exploiting them, only using their sexuality as an enhancement of their full character development. RIPLEY'S GAME, the most recent transfer of Highsmith's book to film, is part of a trilogy she wrote about the character of Tom Ripley, a sensitive, gentle soul who finds his way into the world of the wealth by means of criminal acts. In the first book of the trilogy THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, Tom Ripley is driven by his need for acceptance not only in the (to him) inaccessible world of the wealthy, but also in his urgent need to be loved by other men. In the second novel, RIPLEY UNDERGROUND, Highsmith seems to drop the sexual overtones in favor of pushing Tom Ripley into the arms of a wealthy wife and monetary power, capitalizing on the greed for achievement overshadowing the need for love. By RIPLEY'S GAME the usual trademark Highsmith sexual innuendoes have nothing to do with Ripley, but are very much present in the life of Ripley's confidant in crime - Reeves.This final installment in the Ripley stories has Ripley as teacher, instructing his pupil in the macabre methods of murder for gain. In the title role John Malkovich is his usual wily, brilliant, but misdirected self and his performance is superb (if similar to all of his other roles). Dougray Scott is Ripley's odd pupil Jonathan, Lena Headey his wife Sarah, Ray Winstone is Reeves, and with Chiara Caselli as Ripley's harpsichordist paramour all four add fine performances. There is beautiful photography of Berlin and Rome and the movement is kept at a keen pace by Director Liliana Cavani. So why just 4 stars? There is just not the flavor of Highsmith's lack of predictability here to justify that. But in all, it is an entertaining movie and sure to encourage more to read the works of Patricia Highsmith.
Movie Review: "The thing is, I don't believe anyone is ever watching."
Summary: 4 Stars
The always-superior Malkovich, as Tom Ripley, is the central piece in this mob-hit run amok, the sophisticated killer as blasé about his crimes as he is appreciative of the finer things of life, the elegant details of his Italian villa, his gifted harpsichordist/lover, his excellent taste in artifacts. In contrast, a gangster from Ripley's past, played perfectly by Ray Winston, a crude, deliberative criminal, orders executions to facilitate taking over key aspects of the Russian mob's trade. Miffed after an insult by a guest who is dying of leukemia, Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), Ripley submits John's name to the gangster as a potential assassin for the Russian hits, since the ill man is desperate for money. But Ripley's former Berlin crony (Winston) gets greedy, expecting the dying Trevanny to perform ever more outrageous acts, threatening his family if he fails to cooperate. Chastened, or out of some obscure gentleman's instinct, Ripley steps in to assist Jonathan and the best laid plans quickly spiral out of control when one of the Russians survives the garrote and the gunshot, coming to Italy in pursuit of his attackers; he hasn't come alone.
With his usual suave demeanor and penchant for downplaying the dramatic, Malkovich, as Ripley, takes it all in stride, preparing for the inevitable bloodshed. Violent confrontations ensue, bodies strewn across the Tuscan landscape, the usual fallout of mob conflict, desperate men and professional killers. The twists and turns of a well-plotted script enhance the believability of this film, but it is Malkovich's play all the way, as riveting as ever in his skillful rendering of a complex character who savors each moment of existence. While Dougray Scott can't compete with the master, he gives his role a good shot, the inimitable Ray Winston uncouthly memorable as is his wont. This unusual group makes a fine romp of what could have been a foolish film, each actor bringing his own subtle touches to bear. Luan Gaines/ 2006.
Movie Review: Chilling and absorbing
Summary: 4 Stars
John Malkovich has the eerie ability to say and do horrible things in a totally detached manner. Example - he sets fire to a trunk containing two dead bodies, and as the flames leap up behind him, he whips out his cell phone and calmly orders dozens of flowers for his girlfriend, who will be performing at a concert that evening.
He plays Tom Ripley, the man who claims to lack a conscience, and yet still appreciates the finer things in life - he has a sensuous and talented girlfriend, a lovely villa in Italy, and a love of fine food, music, and art. In the film, one of his former associates, a coarse and obnoxious man named Reeves (Ray Winstone), is looking to kill off some of his competition in the nightclub business in Berlin. Ripley recommends he use Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott) as the hitman. Trevanny has a fatal cancer and needs more money to support his wife and son. After much cajoling from Reeves, Jonathan does the deed, but then is horrified to discover that Reeves wants to use him for even more hits. When Reeves steps up the pressure and threatens Trevanny's family, Ripley intervenes, and we see one of the oddest partnerships develop - between the serene sociopath (again, played so marvelously by Malkovich) and the conscience-stricken, cancer-stricken Trevanny (played with such visible emotional agony by Dougray Scott).
The acting is superb, the settings are beautiful (such a contrast to the violence), and there are moments of awfully funny wit (usually delivered by Ripley). The movie also gives us a troubling portrayal of what decent men will do when they are desperate; so many wrong choices are made, and ultimately the movie does not end as you would expect.
Really, this is a great film, and it's a shame that - because of some distribution error - it was not released in the US.
Movie Review: (3.5 STARS) Darkly Funny Thriller with Great Acting from John Malkovich
Summary: 4 Stars
The story of Patricia Highsmith's unique character Tom Ripley (which was once filmed as "The American Friend" by Wim Wenders) is taken up again this time by Liliana Cavani. John Malkovich plays the rich, nihilistic hero living in Italy who, with a help from a sleazy guy named Reeves (Ray Winstone) his former partner in crime, makes Jonathan, an ailing picture framer (Dougray Scott), a contract killer hired for them.
The film's situation is unusual, even impossible, especially when you know why Ripley is attracted to this far-fetched crime. And you surely need suspense of disbelief if you really want to enjoy this curiously intriguing thriller. Wait until one suspenseful, darkly funny sequence set in the night train in Germany. Things take unexpected turns more than once, leading up to the conclusion that is as enigmatic as the protagonist himself.
The film is tour-de-force of the star John Malkovich as Ripley with a calm voice, chilling and calculating, whose complex personality always baffles us. You may dislike him (why not), or you may be attracted to him, but either way he never bores us. Some may find undercurrent theme (like homosexuality) in the apparently implausible storyline. Some may think the film is a very dark comedy. This beautifully-shot film remains ambiguous; ambiguity is part of the film's essence, and its charm.
This is a film you will either love or hate. Considering the rather neglected status of the film when it was originally released, opinions seem tilted toward "hate." I understand that because this is a thriller where the idea of good and evil means nothing. Tom Ripley is not the person you really want to know in real life, but here he is just fascinating, well, at least to some of us.