The Talented Mr Ripley 1999

Actors: ‎ Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman

After the Oscar-winning The English Patient, writer/director Anthony Min ghella attempted another tricky literary adaptation with The Talented M r. Ripley, which features heartthrob Matt Damon cast against type as a p sychopathic bisexual murderer. Tom Ripley (Damon) is a bright and chari smatic sociopath who makes his way in mid-'50s New York City as a men's room attendant and sometimes pianist, though his real skill is in impers onating other people, forging handwriting, and running second-rate scams . After being mistaken for a Princeton student, Tom meets the shipping tycoon father of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), who has traveled to the co ast of Italy, w here he's living a carefree life with his father's money and his beautiful girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). Dickie's father will pay Ripley 1,000 dollars plus his expenses if he can persuade Dick ie to return to America. As Ripley and Dickie become friends, Tom finds himself both attracted to Dickie and envious of his life of pleasure. I n time, he decides that he would rather be Dickie Gree nleaf than Tom Ri pley, so rather than go back to his life of poverty, Ripley impulsively murders Dickie and assumes his identity. Th e Talented Mr. Ripley was ba sed on the first of a series of novels featuring Tom Ripley written by P atricia Highsmith; the story was previously filmed in 1960 as Purple No on, with Alain Delon as Ripley.