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THE REWATCHABLES · December 23, 2019

The Talented Mr. Ripley

A 1999 thriller / drama directed by Anthony Minghella, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.

ThrillerDrama1990sDirected by Anthony Minghella
Overall episode#113Source sheet order
Movie year19991990s
Tomatometer85%Critics’ score
Metacritic76View score
Roger Ebert4/4Original star rating
DirectorAnthony MinghellaThriller / Drama

FROM THE CONVERSATION

What they said about the movie

The episode argues that The Talented Mr. Ripley is a beautifully cast, late-90s ensemble thriller that works because it captures five actors at a career peak. The hosts admire its first-half glamour, Jude Law’s charisma, Damon’s unusual turn, and the way the movie turns aspiration, fraud, and desire into something seductive but sinister.
Based only on this episode’s transcriptTimes approximateSpeakers were clearly identifiedExplore the connections

WHY IT WORKS

What made it rewatchable

  1. 01It captures multiple actors at peak career momentum, especially Damon, Law, Paltrow, Blanchett, and Hoffman. Opening minutes
  2. 02The first half of the film is a lush, seductive Europe-and-wealth fantasy. Opening minutes
  3. 03Matt Damon gets to play a rare duplicitous, transforming character instead of his usual heroic persona. Opening minutes
  4. 04Jude Law’s Dickie is described as magnetic and irresistible to watch. About 24 min
  5. 05The film’s scenes of social performance, deception, and escalating panic are highly memorable on rewatch. About 40 min

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Their main criticisms

  1. moderateThe film’s second half is less fun and loses some of the first-half pleasure once the panic takes over. About 8 min
  2. moderateSilvana’s death sequence is confusing and not fully legible. About 56 min
  3. minorThe final stretch feels a little slow and could be shorter. About 56 min
  4. minorSome sexual-tension elements feel slightly overplayed or not fully convincing. About 48 min · medium confidence

SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO

Standout moments

Favorite

Tom meets Dickie for the first time

The initial introduction establishes Tom’s con artistry and Dickie’s fascination with him.

About 32 min
Favorite

Tom and Dickie sing jazz together

A condensing of the film’s glamour, desire, and awkward social performance into one scene.

About 40 min
Favorite

Freddie Miles’ entrance

Hoffman’s arrival is treated as one of the great comedic introductions.

About 40 min
Favorite

Freddie needles Tom at breakfast and the boat sequence follows

A chain of scenes that escalates Tom’s humiliation into violence and accidental killing.

About 40 min
positive

Tom runs into Marge and Peter at the opera

Tom’s careful evasions and Marge’s growing suspicion are highlighted as excellent tension.

About 48 min
positive

Freddie confronts Tom in the apartment

Hoffman’s contempt and rapid-fire line readings make the confrontation memorable.

About 48 min

WHERE THEY DISAGREED

The biggest debates

They partly agreed About 40 min

Is Dickie sexually interested in Tom?

Sean Fennessey

Sees the bathtub/chess scene as suggestive but says Dickie mostly uses the tension as power.

Bill Simmons

Feels the movie overstates the gay-tension angle and never really makes Dickie seem gay.

They agreed About 1:28

Who wins the movie?

Bill Simmons

Matt Damon is career-important but Jude Law is the movie’s biggest winner.

Amanda Dobbins

Also lands on Jude Law because of the lasting impression he leaves.

They agreed About 1:12

Could the story work as a limited series?

Bill Simmons

Thinks the material could be expanded into 10 episodes.

Sean Fennessey

Thinks it could work, but only if the slow turn to evil is paced carefully.

They partly agreed About 56 min

Is Ripley an antihero or just evil?

Bill Simmons

Notes the film participates in the rise of the antihero era.

Sean Fennessey

Argues the character is a specific brand of evil but still easy to root for in the moment.

12 People discussedActors, directors, writers, and producers
very favorableMatt DamonBill Simmons: Praised for giving his best performance and for taking a rare, weird, duplicitous role. Opening minutes favorableGwyneth PaltrowAmanda Dobbins: Praised for adding dignity and depth to Marge and for capturing a specific early-career peak. About 8 min very favorableJude LawSean Fennessey: Described as impossibly charismatic, beautiful, and the movie’s main attraction. About 24 min favorableCate BlanchettAmanda Dobbins: Praised as an emerging star who owns every scene and quietly mirrors Ripley’s social position. About 16 min very favorablePhilip Seymour HoffmanSean Fennessey: Celebrated as an all-time great scene-stealer with a hilarious, disgusting, magnetic energy. About 24 min
favorableAnthony MinghellaBill Simmons: Credited for assembling the project, pursuing the adaptation, and pulling off the cast chemistry. About 32 min
neutralPatricia HighsmithSean Fennessey: Referenced as the source of the Ripley novels and the character framework for the film. About 8 min
favorableRoger EbertBill Simmons: Cited for calling the film an intelligent thriller and noting its insidious pull toward Ripley. About 56 min favorablePhilip Baker HallBill Simmons: Admired for a small but memorable detective turn that goes in an unexpected direction. About 48 min favorableJames RebhornBill Simmons: Praised as a top-tier character actor and a classic 'that guy.' About 1:04
neutralTommy WiseauBill Simmons: Mentioned only via trivia about being moved by the movie and inspired to make The Room. About 1:12 · medium confidence
neutralAmanda KnoxAmanda Dobbins: Brought up jokingly because of her own middle name and the Italy connection. About 1:20
10 Conversation takesSpeakers shown only where the transcript identifies them
Bill SimmonsLoved it

The Talented Mr. Ripley as a late-90s ensemble

Says it feels like the ultimate late-90s movie because of its stacked cast and improbable success.

Opening minutes
Amanda DobbinsLoved it

First half of the movie

Likes the lush, beautiful first half but feels the second half is less fun on rewatch.

Opening minutes
Sean FennesseyLoved it

Matt Damon in this role

Argues Damon is trying something weird here and succeeding in a way he rarely has elsewhere.

About 8 min
Bill SimmonsLiked it

Gwyneth Paltrow

Sees Paltrow as a special actress whose off-screen persona later distorted how people judged her work.

About 8 min
Amanda DobbinsLoved it

Cate Blanchett

Says the movie captures Blanchett at the exact moment she becomes unmistakably a major actress.

About 16 min
Sean FennesseyLoved it

Jude Law

Treats Law’s performance as almost unmatched in screen charisma and the movie’s true center.

About 24 min
Bill SimmonsLoved it

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Calls Hoffman the best actor of his generation and a perfect scene-stealer.

About 32 min
Sean FennesseyLoved it

Tom and Dickie singing jazz

Sees the jazz-club sequence as one of the most irresistible, distilled scenes in the movie.

About 40 min
Bill SimmonsLiked it

Dickie Greenleaf

Acknowledges Dickie is a terrible person but makes him impossible not to watch.

About 24 min
Sean FennesseyLiked it

A 10-episode Ripley adaptation

Says the story could work as a series, but only if the slow moral turn is handled carefully.

About 1:12
5 ThemesThe larger ideas in the discussion

Aspirational fraud

Ripley’s whole project is to infiltrate wealth and status he cannot otherwise access.

About 40 min

Charisma as power

Dickie’s allure is treated as almost supernatural and central to why everyone is drawn to him.

About 24 min

Performance and identity

The movie is about pretending, inhabiting roles, and becoming someone else in real time.

About 40 min

1999 Hollywood casting sweet spot

The episode treats the film as a snapshot of a generation of actors reaching stardom at once.

Opening minutes

Desire and ambiguity

Tom’s attraction to Dickie is left intentionally murky between wanting him and wanting to be him.

About 40 min
21 Facts and referencesProduction notes and other movies mentioned

Production note

Damon reportedly lost 30 pounds for the role and sang 'My Funny Valentine' himself.

About 1:04

Production note

Jude Law reportedly learned to play the saxophone for the film and broke a rib filming the boat murder.

About 1:04

Production note

The film was shot in sequence and across multiple seaside towns, which complicated production.

About 1:04

Production note

Anthony Minghella died at 54 of a hemorrhage related to tonsil and neck cancer.

About 1:04

Production note

Roger Ebert gave the film 4/4 stars.

About 56 min

Production note

Tommy Wiseau was reportedly inspired by the film when making The Room.

About 1:12 · medium confidence

Tony Soprano

Used as part of a turn-of-the-century antihero comparison.

About 56 min

Fight Club

Cited as another 1999 antihero film.

About 56 min

Dirty Harry

Used to contrast vigilante-era heroes with modern antiheroes.

About 56 min

The Wire

Mentioned as another example of audiences rooting for morally compromised people.

About 56 min

The English Patient

Referenced as Anthony Minghella’s prior Oscar-winning film and source of his leverage.

About 32 min

Rounders

Used to frame Damon’s late-90s run and his range of characters.

About 8 min

Good Will Hunting

Referenced as part of Damon’s run and his early-career identity.

About 8 min

Saving Private Ryan

Part of Damon’s 1997-1999 career run.

About 8 min

Magnolia

Used in the Hoffman discussion as one of his early signature supporting roles.

About 32 min

Almost Famous

Used to mark Hoffman becoming a scene-stealer of the highest level.

About 32 min

The Shipping News

Listed among Blanchett’s prestige-film run.

About 16 min

The Aviator

Cited as another example of Blanchett owning a role.

About 16 min

The Simpsons

Used jokingly as the reason the name Marge feels unavailable.

About 1:20

The Room

Mentioned via trivia about Tommy Wiseau being moved by Ripley.

About 1:12 · medium confidence

Amanda Knox case

Brought up by Amanda because of her middle name and the Italy setting.

About 1:20
10 Running jokes and short linesRecurring bits captured from the conversation

Tommy / Tommy / Tommy

Repeated chanting of 'Tommy' and the 'how's the peeping' line becomes a recurring joke.

About 40 min

Italy enthusiasm

The hosts repeatedly joke about wanting to be in Italy and how appealing the setting is.

About 56 min

Sex-positive / sex-shaming riff

A playful bit develops around sex in movies and shaming characters for it.

About 1:12

Name-comeback talk

They riff on the future return of old-fashioned names like Marge, Maude, Jenny, and Dickie.

About 1:20

Freddie Miles award joke

The group debates renaming the Diane Waiters award to the Freddie Miles award.

About 1:04

Bill Simmons

“You could be a leech. You know that?”
Opening minutes

Speaker not identified

“I always thought it would be better”
Opening minutes

Speaker not identified

“Oh God, don't you wanna fuck every woman”
About 40 min

Speaker not identified

“The thing with Dickie, it's like the sun”
About 24 min

Bill Simmons

“Tommy. Tommy. Tommy.”
About 40 min

MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT

Where to watch

UNITED STATES

Checking where The Talented Mr. Ripley is available…

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

Movies to watch before and after.

Three movies to watch before The Talented Mr. Ripley, and three to watch next.

Finding six movies…Three to watch first and three to watch next.
Includes a Rewatchables episodePosters from TMDB.

ON THE MIC

3 voices on this episode

Bill Simmons headshotBill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Sean Fennessey headshotSean FennesseyThe Rewatchables
Amanda Dobbins headshotAmanda DobbinsThe Rewatchables

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