The Talented Mr. Ripley
Miramax Films | Release Date: December 24, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
2
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is as intelligent a thriller as you'll see this year. Read full review
100
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
It's that rare movie with a sense of timeliness that is eternal, and a protagonist whose soul-crushed angst, even at its most fatal, speaks to the little boy/girl lost in everyone. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
This thriller is so expertly -- and perversely -- poised that audience members may find themselves secretly rooting for the duplicitous Ripley. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Minghella makes an enticing, intelligent, well-shaped picture about the extreme perils of class envy and sexual panic. Read full review
90
Film.comJohn Hartl
In the hands of Minghella and his star, Matt Damon, Ripley has become a more complex character, in some ways more understandable and approachable, in other ways as enigmatic as ever. Read full review
90
Film.comErnest Hardy
A dark film that raises more questions than it answers -- and it's meant to. Read full review
90
TNT RoughCutChristopher Brandon
The talented Mr. Minghella is aping Alfred Hitchcock as effectively as Tom Ripley is doing Dickie Greenleaf.
89
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
Just the thing to clear your Capra-glutted holiday movie palate. Read full review
88
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
The only thing missing from this rich production is an emotional charge, which Highsmith could create on the page but which Minghella doesn't quite capture on screen. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A slick, twisty, top-of-the-line crime thriller with gorgeously sensual textures and a screenful of wickedly faceted performances. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Delivers all the expected moments of high suspense --that is worthy of Hitchcock Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
In a possible breakthrough role, Law would seem to be the big winner. Read full review
88
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The picture has fine ensemble acting and superb Italian scenery. It would have more power if it were shorter and tighter. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a refreshing sensation, even if it makes you feel a touch seasick at first, and the fittingly eerie conclusion to a lavish and unsettling movie. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
It demands people pay attention and look inward to find the private compass that will navigate us through murky sensibilities that are as capable of seducing us as they are Tom Ripley. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A beautifully mounted and directed film that, despite the presence of Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, is unexpectedly lacking in emotional impact. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The talented Mr. Minghella has made an imperfect movie but not an impersonal one. His morality tale means to get under the skin, and does.
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Carnal, glamorous and worth the price. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Performances are aces top to bottom Read full review
80
Film.comRobert Horton
May be Hitchcock on holiday, but that's a perfectly enjoyable vacation. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Although he never matches the book in either brilliance or sheer perversity, Minghella has remained essentially true to his source. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Minghella's psychological redraft muffles the menace, squanders the tension, throws away the main character and plot engine and turns Ripley into something he never was or should be. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
This film of mistaken identity, murder, class envy and (bi)sexual tension doesn't live up to its own promise. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Matt Damon's performance isn't bad, but it pales in comparison with Law's. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Takes startling - and startlingly unpleasant - turns. This is not a film with anything approximating a conventional ending. Read full review
74
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
A near-perfect confection, a beautifully executed Hollywood all-you-can-eat salad bar of glamour, plot twists, breathtaking Mediterranean vistas, and jazz. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Enter the world of the sociopathic killer and enjoy. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Matt Damon can't quite piece together a compelling poseur. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverScott Kelton Jones
Numbs as much as it unnerves. Read full review
70
SalonCharles Taylor
It must be hard to misread the tone of a book as single-minded as Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, but Anthony Minghella manages somehow. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This coolly beautiful film is both a superior thriller and an engrossing study of a sociopath's progress. Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Damon's Ripley is considerably different from the charming sociopath in Patricia Highsmith's novel or the smooth lothario played by Alain Delon in the 1960 French thriller "Purple Noon." Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel is commercial to the core. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's ploddingly directed, indifferently acted and insufficiently frightening. Read full review
30
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
It's a sign of how watered-down the movie is that only the supporting actors have any bite. Read full review
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