Part of 1999
Patricia Highsmith’s novels are exceptional moral quandaries, the kind of traps that don’t reveal themselves as such until it’s far too late, and her recurrent antihero Tom Ripley — insecure, queerish, relatable — manages to articulate so much about the human experience from all points on the continuum of the humane. And here, played by Matt Damon, he’s an organism in conflict. When a taste of the good life draws him into a scheme, he finds himself adrift between different desires. And is there anything more American than letting a little murder keep that good life within reach? Also featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman at his most deliciously shady.
“Minghella's — and Damon's — triumph here is in making Ripleys of us all.” —Glenn Kenny, Premiere Magazine “This coolly beautiful film is both a superior thriller and an engrossing study of a sociopath's progress.” —Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide “Offers diabolically smart surprises wherever you care to look.” —Janet Maslin, New York Times
