The vitals:
Friday, 3/28
7:00 ~ Doors
7:30 ~ THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

[Cue White Lotus: Mongibello theme music]

What is it about Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley that makes this character work forever, regardless if it’s an American, German (The American Friend), French (Purple Noon), or Netlix (different global megacorp with its own rules of course) production? Highsmith says that “murder is a kind of making love,” and that love gets extra nasty when the murderee is rich.

The big inverted collapse of the (huge exasperated air quotes) “American Dream” we see here — track down the scion, invade the scion, dispose of and become the scion — simply gains more power as the world burns harder. No path to the top except through violence, regardless of when you enter the game.

Most importantly for our purposes here though, Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley simply RIPS SO HARD. It’s lush beyond measure, paced to perfection, packed with mouthwatering lewks of the casually entitled one-generation-removed nouveau riche. Jude Law was born to play the doomed and beautiful Dickie Greenleaf, Matt Damon is at his Damon-est playing hot little freak Tom Ripley (Barry Keoghan-coded tbh), Goop will Goop, Phillip Seymour Hoffman absolutely must fuck everyone he meets just once, Cate Blanchett and Jack Davenport both swoop in with killer bit roles… it’s that proprietary blend of mature ideas and totally salacious excess that we could’ve gotten from Hollywood if we’d all just believed in ourselves all along.

It’s fitting that this movie was released to theaters a mere two weeks before the turn of the millenium. Like The Matrix and so many others from the greatest year for movies, it’s both timeless and something that can never happen again. So for now, grab your oars, don’t be boring, and let’s see how many forged checks we can cash.

SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES
🔮