Rent The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Fantastico - The Talented Mr. Ripley review by JD

Matt Damon is unbelievably good. His character is about as horrible as it is possible to be; but he manages to keep you interested in his perspective and think about his motives. This film will haunt your dreams/nightmares but there is a strong and important moral lesson. The only criticism that occurred to me is that all the other characters are extremely privileged, but it is based on American young adults living in Naples and Rome. The plot would have had to be quite different to accommodate less wealthy characters.

Five Attempts to Be Dickie Greenleaf - The Talented Mr. Ripley review by griggs

After several false starts (none of them the film’s fault), I finally made it to the end of The Talented Mr Ripley—and I’m glad I did. Ripley deserves to be celebrated for its sumptuous atmosphere, moral ambiguity, and strong ensemble cast, even if the pacing occasionally drifts. It’s a sleek, unsettling film: all sun-kissed luxury concealing something far colder beneath. Damon’s blank intensity, Law’s golden-boy magnetism, and Paltrow’s slow-burn dread all hit the mark. Philip Seymour Hoffman steals scenes with greasy bravado, while Jack Davenport makes a sharp impression with little screen time.

At its core, this isn’t really about sexuality—it’s about obsession, envy, and the desperate construction of identity. Tom doesn’t just want Dickie’s life—he wants to be Dickie. The film captures that psychological slippage with unnerving elegance. The queerness is there, coded and side-eyed, but it feels like a by-product of warped yearning rather than a declaration. A richly textured, thought-provoking thriller that rewards repeat viewings… even if it took me five tries and a strong coffee to finally see it through.

Brilliant dark psychological crime thriller - The Talented Mr. Ripley review by Mr Aquarium

As good a Patricia Highsmith crime novel adaptation as Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" or her sapphic novel adaption, Todd Haynes' "Carol".

The cast in this film is superb, [the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character is wonderfully odious] as are the twists, and the sense of time and place. So good is the sense of time and place, that the film really benefits from Blu-Ray and an ace TV.