I'd fuck this icebox I love it so much.
A review by Mike Shea Movie Rating: ( * * · · · ) DVD Rating: ( * * * * · )
I like to classify movies. One of my little pleasures is to take movies and stick them into little baskets. What Lies Beneath is Fatal Attraction with a ghost. The Matrix is a movie about sunglasses. Portrait of a Lady is a two hour kick in the testicles. The Talented Mr. Ripley is Mrs. Doubtfire with homosexual undertones set in Italy. After the horribly distracting credits, the movie starts off pretty strong. It is nice to see Matt Damon in a role where he is pasty and insecure instead of the strong willed Will Hunting or Loki. The costume and set design grabs you and the great background of jazz helps set the mood. I am so lousy with names that I was completely lost in the first ten minutes as to who he was saying he is, but luckily this didn't matter too much. About an hour through, you realize that all this time has been spent following a guy who has a crush on an asshole. Philip Seymour Hoffman has a role far different from the chunky Scotty in Boogie Nights, but also turns out to be an asshole. After a wonderfully bloody murder, the movie takes a steep dive. During an opera scene, we go right into an episode of Three's Company, where our hero is switching glasses and changing rings so that group A won't realize that he is someone different to group B. Never EVER take a plot line from a 70s sitcom and try to make it legit. Even with the air of nobility and credence you get by having a homosexual as your main character and showing at least one Italian stone pillar in every shot, you lose it when you have our anti-hero setting up meetings with two dates at the same time. After the movie is said and done, you either walk away feeling like you are an elite member of society for not caring that the main character is gay, or else you go home and turn on WWF. But to take a deeper look at this movie is to realize that under all the elitist plot points there is nothing but Jack Tripper putting on a fake mustache and using a spanish accent with one girl while hoping the other doesn't realize that his shirt is different than when he started. Of course, in all those shows, Jack always gets caught. At least in this movie, every time the hero does get caught, he smashes their head apart with a Roman statue. The DVD has a lot going for it. There is an excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that really shines in track 5, the jazz club. That is how Dolby Digital should be used. The picture was a nice sharp 16x9 enhanced 1.85 to 1 matte. There is a making of feature, but no commentary. Overall, I can't say the movie was a complete waste of time, but it certainly wasn't anything other than a silly 24 minute sitcom spread out with murder.
From: elisabeth ( cajed_boy@hotmail.com ) on 21 March 2002
Subject: er
"you either walk away feeling like you are an elite member of society for not caring that the main character is gay" why should anyone care if the main character was gay or not? He was a sociopath, he didn't know what he wanted (moreso in the book). Read the books, they're much better. But the movie is one of my favorites anyway. The soundtrack is EXCELLENT.
From: emyers ( emyers@yahoo.com ) on 18 December 2001
Subject: This movie.
I must say that the talented ripley was among the worst movies I saw that year. talk about long borring, and wishing for end. Liquid theater guy was far more forgiving then I would of been.
From: Mike ( mshea@liquidtheater.com ) on 18 December 2001
Subject: Critics making their own?
Is that why Ebert made Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? Welcome to the internet, pal, I can say whatever the hell I wish.
From: JAK ( YJAK21@AOL.COM ) on 17 December 2001
Subject: dip-shits
I think the review written on the talented Mr. Ripley was in bad taste, if the author of this review was not as ignorant as he sets him/herself out to be, than maybe that person would reconsider his/her comments. Eventually coming to realize that this was a well made film with an extrodinare overtone of Hitchcock, which in-turn is displaying cinematic genius. So until you come out with your first descent film, keep your mouth shut...with those bad reviews
From: bonez ( bsfrank@bu.edu ) on 19 August 2000
Subject: Not that bad...
I wasn't crazy about the movie myself. I do have to admit it was pretty powerful though. It left me feeling uncomfortable in my seat a few times. I think that you have to give the movie some credit for being able to elicit such a strong response, be it good or bad.
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From: Floss ( Floss_me@hotmail.com ) on 27 July 2003
Subject: Just my thought
So I just watchted this movie yesterday night. I must say I´m a tense person, but this movie really got me to smoke about fifteen cigarettes during the length of the film. When everything seems to be solved for a clean exit, he just stays there until things get messed up again. And then he just gets away with it, all due to his genius and specially to his damn good luck.
I was not crazy about the end though, and I would throw the whole movie into my basket of "terrible movies" because of it. I´m considering cutting it off in the scene of the ship sailing off with the two guys (Im bad with names) standing there. I mean, the guy was a genius, he could have made up anything, but he had to kill this guy who was a sweetheart? That´s the classic attempt of american film-makers to get overly dramatic, that ends up looking stupid.
But I´m not a movie critic, I´m just a romantic bitch. Sue me.