After watching the 1999 film adaptation, I believe words cannot describe Tom Ripley but the 1955 American author, Patricia Highsmith uses the word ‘talented’ in her novel to label who I would call a merciless murderer.The Talented Mr Ripley is an intelligent thriller which takes identity theft and obsession to another chilling level, starring Matt Damon who gives a creepy yet applaudable portrayal as an evil imposter.
The psychological thriller also stars Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, the famous carefree victim in the film who couldn’t escape Tom’s ruthlessness, along with Gwyneth Paltrow as Dickie’s girlfriend, Marge Sherwood, and Cate Blanchette as Meredith Logue.
In 1958, the bespectacled Tom Ripley works as a pianist in a fancy party wearing a borrowed Princeton jacket, being mistaken by, Herbert Greenleaf, as a former classmate of his son Dickie Greenleaf. Herbert offers Tom a $1000 to convince his son, Dickie, who is settled in Italy to return to the United States to which he agrees. In a seaside village of Mongibello, Tom befriends Dickie and Marge by pretending to be his former classmate to whom they take a liking to. Slowly, Tom starts becoming obsessed with Dickie’s lavish and extravagant lifestyle to the extent where he murders him by hitting him with an oar after being rejected by him and takes over his entire identity.
After forging a pile of letters, creating illusions and fabricating information, Tom Ripley steals more than just Dickie Greenleaf’s name but his entire existence including his finances and lifestyle. He becomes an unstoppable fraud who will go to any length to secure his life as the false Dickie Greenleaf, even if that means removing the real one from the picture.
The film illuminates how your only escape from your identity is taking over someone else’s and shows the destruction of someone’s morals over a high class and a lavish lifestyle that a working-class member like Tom can only dream of. It also shows how much a charming individual can work on their surface to avoid being exposed of their deep-rooted deceptions.
Matt Damon gives an impeccable portrayal as this lower-class fraudster who leans towards murder for all-you-can-eat salad bars and jazz concerts, which was painted to him so beautifully, he will end lives just to have it. The way he realistically embodies Tom Ripley, and his endless cycle of killings is presented in such a terrifying manner, that I even questioned my crush on Matt Damon for a little while. He superbly destroyed my trust in charming, rich people who may or may not be the real. The scene in which he convinces he loves Marge with a discreet weapon to not be exposed of his lies, left me shivering. I don’t usually watch psychological thrillers, but I think if I were to watch the film again, it won’t be alone, that’s for sure.