The Talented Mr. Ripley

The movie is as intelligent a thriller as you'll see this year. more

This thriller is so expertly -- and perversely -- poised that audience members may find themselves secretly rooting for the duplicitous Ripley. more

It's that rare movie with a sense of timeliness that is eternal, and a protagonist whose soul-crushed angst, even at its most fatal, speaks to the little boy/girl lost in everyone. more

Minghella makes an enticing, intelligent, well-shaped picture about the extreme perils of class envy and sexual panic. more

In the hands of Minghella and his star, Matt Damon, Ripley has become a more complex character, in some ways more understandable and approachable, in other ways as enigmatic as ever. more

A dark film that raises more questions than it answers -- and it's meant to. more

The talented Mr. Minghella is aping Alfred Hitchcock as effectively as Tom Ripley is doing Dickie Greenleaf.

Just the thing to clear your Capra-glutted holiday movie palate. more

The picture has fine ensemble acting and superb Italian scenery. It would have more power if it were shorter and tighter. more

Delivers all the expected moments of high suspense --that is worthy of Hitchcock more

A great thriller, very subtle with an impressive cast. Glad I got round to watching this at last. A very good story about a guy who purely by chance has the opportunity to change his life but with big consequences. Proves Matt Damon can do a lot more than just action. more

I think this is definitely Matt Damon's best performance, however, I don't feel the movie itself is flawless. There were a lot of great moments and the acting was great, but it didn't really have that much individuality. Aside from the location shots, I would say that the cinematography was empty and there was very little put into the look of the film. The story had to essentially sell you, which I think for many it did. more

When a movie makes you root for a person as thoroughly evil and disturbed as Tom Ripley, then it must be doing some things right. No matter how terrible Tom's actions or how much he deserves to have his deceptions uncovered, he remains the protagonist of the movie. I rooted for him every step of the way, against my own better judgement. The acting talent here is impressive. Jude Law gave a performance that made me really respect him as an actor, he was just fantastic. Matt Damon was even better than his usual solid work. He perfectly gave off the not-quite-right vibe of Tom Ripley. Philip... more

Was this movie based on a true serial killer? Because it's like Minghella goes out of his way to de-real the story. It's a highly stylized film, with a plenitude of symbolism and atmosphere, which sometimes works for it and sometimes doesn't. Particular scenes socked a punch but many times Minghella doesn't follow these themes to fruition. It was decently acted but I feel like with such a huge talent pool of actors they didn't really make the effort to GO there. more

One of the most sublimely-crafted thriller/mysteries I've ever seen. The Talented Mr. Ripley is a slightly subdued (and thus slightly overlong, my main fault with the movie) trip into obsession and inadequacy. Matt Damon, who is widely underrated as an actor, gives a phenomenal performance as a tormented, multifaceted man who stepped into the Garden of Eden and sure as hell doesn't want to leave. Jude Law is great too, in an admittedly underwritten part - what is it about Supporting Actor nominees states that they have to be killed at the 45 minute mark? (See also Rachel Weisz for Constant... more