Upon visiting Italy, Tom Ripley, a young courageous and intelligent guy, who does his best, in order to earn his living and work with a wealthy man, who asked him to travel to Italy, in order to convince his son to return home in New York and run the business of his family, the thing that brings terrible for him, as he is involved in terrible.
Not only is it an elegantly polished affair, with top notch performances all round, and magnificent camerawork and editing, it's also acutely aware of how class, money and sex shape desire and resentment.
A "10 Best" achievement, thanks to writer-director Anthony Minghella's acute interpretation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, a shooting style that wallows in decadence and danger, and a choice cast completely in sync with the stringent demands of the story.
Familiarity is the watchword of this overblown opus, which neglects holes in the plot to play up its postmodern theme of identity as pastiche -- a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black.
