The Talented Mr. Ripley is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Anthony Minghella, and based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel of the same name. Set in the 1950s, it stars Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, an underachieving young man that is sent from New York City to Italy to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf, a rich and spoiled playboy, and convince him to return home - however, after failing, Ripley takes extreme measures. Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman also appear in supporting roles.
The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $128 million worldwide. It received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Law.
Plot
In 1959 New York City, Tom Ripley is approached by shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf, who believes that Ripley attended Princeton with his son Dickie, as he is wearing a borrowed Princeton jacket. Greenleaf pays Ripley to travel to Italy, where Dickie has settled, to persuade him to return to the United States. After a first-class voyage aboard the RMS Queen Mary, Ripley pretends to be Dickie in the Italian ocean liner terminal and befriends American socialite Meredith Logue.
In the seaside village of Mongibello, Ripley befriends Dickie and his American girlfriend Marge Sherwood, claiming to be a former Princeton classmate. He enjoys Dickie's extravagant lifestyle and becomes obsessed with him. Once Dickie's wealthy friend Freddie appears, he tires of Ripley and starts spending time with Freddie, who treats Ripley with contempt. When he returns from Rome, Dickie is disturbed to find Ripley dressed in his clothes and dancing in front of a mirror. Dickie impregnates a local woman then spurns her, so she drowns herself. Ripley, aware of what has happened, promises a guilt-ridden Dickie to keep it a secret. After his father cuts off his travel funds, Dickie cancels a trip to Venice and tells Ripley that they should part ways, but offers to take him on a final trip to San Remo.
Aboard a small boat, Dickie says that he has grown tired of Ripley and is going to marry Marge, while Ripley insists that Dickie is afraid of their feelings for each other. The argument becomes physical, and Ripley kills Dickie with an oar. Ripley takes Dickie's belongings and scuttles the boat. Realizing that people mistake him for Dickie, Ripley assumes his identity. He forges a letter to Marge, convincing her that Dickie has left her and moved to Rome. Ripley creates the illusion that Dickie is still alive by checking into one hotel as Dickie and another as himself, fabricating an exchange of communications between the two. Through forgery, he is able to draw on Dickie's allowance, which allows him to live lavishly.
In Rome, Ripley runs into Meredith, who still knows him as Dickie, and accepts an invitation from her to attend an opera with her family. His ruse is threatened when he unexpectedly runs into Marge and her friend Peter Smith-Kingsley there. Ripley rushes Meredith out of the opera house on a pretext, then rejects her to prevent himself from being exposed. Freddie shows up to Ripley's apartment, having being told that Dickie rents it, and is immediately suspicious by Ripley's presence there. When the landlady addresses Ripley as Dickie, Freddie realizes the fraud. Ripley bludgeons him to death and disposes of his body. When the body is found, police visit the apartment to question "Dickie". To evade the police and Marge, both of whom are looking for Dickie, Ripley forges Dickie's suicide note, claiming responsibility for Freddie's death. Under his real name, Ripley travels to Venice, where he again encounters Peter.
Dickie's father arrives in Italy with private detective Alvin MacCarron, and meets with the police. Ripley almost kills Marge after she discovers he has Dickie's rings, but they are interrupted by Peter. Mr. Greenleaf dismisses Marge's suspicions and MacCarron tells Ripley that the police are convinced that Dickie, who had a history of violence, murdered Freddie before killing himself. MacCarron tells Ripley that Greenleaf intends to bequeath a large portion of Dickie's trust fund to him to reward his loyalty to Dickie and to ensure his silence.