The Talented Mr. Ripley

"How far would you go to become someone else."

1999 2h 20m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

85%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 4,322🍅85%Rotten Tomatoes●76Metacritic★7.4IMDB · 264,777

ThrillerCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

“How far would you go to become someone else.”

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Cast

Matt Damon
Tom Ripley
Gwyneth Paltrow
Marge Sherwood
Jude Law
Dickie Greenleaf
Cate Blanchett
Meredith Logue
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Freddie Miles
Jack Davenport
Peter Smith-Kingsley
James Rebhorn
Herbert Greenleaf
Sergio Rubini
Inspector Roverini

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Anthony Minghella
Writers: Anthony Minghella, Tony Wright
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Anthony Minghella, shot by John Seale. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Gabriel Yared. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Walter Murch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "How far would you go to become someone else.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anthony Minghella directs. John Seale behind the camera. Gabriel Yared scores. Walter Murch cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Anthony Minghella, shot by John Seale. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Gabriel Yared. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Walter Murch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "How far would you go to become someone else.".
9IMDB entry: tt0134119 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 36 themes, including "new york city", "friendship", "ship", "new love".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Seale
Original score: Gabriel Yared
Editing: Walter Murch
Production design: Roy Walker
Costume design: Ann Roth
Makeup / hair: Alessandra Sampaolo
VFX supervisor: Dennis Lowe
Sound: Walter Murch
Stunt coordinator: Franco Maria Salamon
Runtime: 140 min · 2h 20m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $128,798,265
Return: 322% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 76/100
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 264,777 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 5 Oscars. 10 wins & 81 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Anthony Minghella

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Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-18
★ 7/10
With his son off galavanting around Europe, the wealthy "Greenleaf" (James Rebhorn) happens upon the eponymous character (Matt Damon) whom he charges with travelling - first class - to track down "Dickie" (Jude Law) and bring him home. He manages an introduction to his quarry, and his girlfriend "Marge" (Gwyneth Paltrow), on an Italian riviera beach and suggesting they'd both gone to Princeton, manages to inveigle an invitation to lunch. Now "Tom" has done his research here. he knows "Dickie" loves jazz, and so by feigning a recently acquired interest in the music he manages to comprehensively ingratiate himself into their lives. The arrival of their mate "Freddie" (Philip Seymour Hoffmann) manages to unsettle the wealthy man who concludes that he wishes to be rid of his newly acquired parasite. Next thing, well "Dickie" appears to have done his best Greta Garbo "want to be alone" and "Tom" is providing an initial shoulder to cry on for "Marge" before they part company. Now we know what happened, so are not too surprised when we see "Tom" start to live the life he'd always wanted to, he hooks up with "Meredith" (Cate Blanchett) whom he met on the boat over, and a life of fraudulent frolics ensue. As ever, though, one lie is never enough and the reappearance of "Freddie" and a chance meeting with "Marge" at the opera starts to cause problems for "Tom" that only increase when "Greenleaf" arrives wanting to know what the hell is going on... This is one of these characterful mystery dramas that hits the ground running and uses a solid cast to keep the momentum going until a denouement that i felt was just a little too serendipitous but that still works well. Damon is on good form and it's not hard to see why Jude Law made it initially either. Paltrow is underused at the start but does come into her element more as the the plot thickens and by the end there is an enjoyable will he/won't he uncomfortableness about the ending. The photography is classy and stylish illustrating well the scenarios in which these spoilt and malevolent folks find themselves, there's a bit of humour and some cracking jazz to pepper this superior thriller.
Mickerdoo2025-12-25
★ 8/10
An intricate web of lies that spirals out of control. Law is easily coveted. Damon is calculated and cunning. Hoffman had to go.