Ripley's Game

2002 psychopathic character study

Rating: 15/20

Plot: Tom Ripley, an American with "too much money and poor taste," likes games. After being insulted at a neighbor's party, he discovers that the Jonathan, the insulter, is dying from cancer and figures that he's the perfect teammate for his latest game. A former associate comes to Ripley because he needs a guy killed, and he gives him Jonathan's number. A follow-up murder is then required because, just like you can't eat just one potato chip, you can't kill just one person. Ripley fights to remain in charge of his game.

At times, this seems to have the production values of a made-for-cable movie. And the characters' motivations are either far too complex for my weak mind to comprehend or just nonsensical. It's probably the former. I'm not Tom Ripley, ya know! But despite its flaws, this movie just works, mostly because it rests on the shoulders of John Malkovich, a guy who was born to play just this sort of psychopath. It's sexy stuff! Ray Winstone's also very good playing just the sort of character he's really good at playing. There's some great dialogue in this ("Hold my watch because if it breaks, I will kill everybody on this train."); I'm not sure if it's the writing or the delivery that makes the lines so much fun. But it's the dialogue and the performances that help you forgive the flaws in this movie. There's a great scene on a train (and I'm a sucker for great scenes that take place on trains!) that is both violent and comical. The movie even threatens to turn into an adult Home Alone movie near the end. It's amazing to me that this was essentially a straight-to-dvd release because John Malkovich really needs to be seen on the big screen. His eyes are too small for a normal-sized television.