The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999

Roger Ebert, At the Movies: The movie is an intelligent a thriller as you'll see this year. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Again, Minghella proves himself the most stylish and literate of film makers. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: The Talented Mr. Ripley inhabits a world of shiny, sparkly surfaces. Looking beneath those surfaces provides provocative fun and probing drama. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: The Talented Mr. Ripley offers diabolically smart surprises wherever you care to look. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Familiarity is the watchword of this overblown opus, which neglects holes in the plot to play up its postmodern theme of identity as pastiche -- a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It's an Italian feast, spiked with just enough arsenic to make the flavors interesting and dangerous. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Lacking in emotional impact. Read more

Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle: Perhaps at 90 or so minutes, it would have been the Hitchcockian thriller that it isn't at the beginning but turns into. At two hours and 20 minutes, there's too much of the film that feels like reiteration. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: The Talented Mr. Ripley loses a bit of its steam toward the end, but Minghella has still delivered an extremely provocative and well-made film. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: He [Anthony Minghella] is aided by the intensely bright cinematography of John Seale, a score by Gabriel Yared that mixes hot jazz with classical, and the bold and lively retro-chic costumes of Ann Roth and Gary Jones. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Even before its release, The Talented Mr. Ripley has attracted some mighty serious analytic attention. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's a gorgeously unsettling film. You can hide in the shadows, but luminescence exposes who you are, and the only escape is into another identity. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: On balance, The Talented Mr. Ripley is worth seeing more for its undeniably delightful journey than its final destination. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Matt Damon is simply not convincing in this role. Not only is his performance flat, but he is unable to generate any sense of menace. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: Minghella isn't going back to the modest style and the organic emotion of Truly, Madly, Deeply, his first and still his best film. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: If anybody can create sympathy for the devil, the angelic Matt Damon can. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Not only is it an elegantly polished affair, with top notch performances all round, and magnificent camerawork and editing, it's also acutely aware of how class, money and sex shape desire and resentment. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Performances are aces top to bottom. Read more

Amy Taubin, Village Voice: It's a sign of how watered-down the movie is that only the supporting actors have any bite. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: In terms of psychological profundity, it isn't one millimeter deep. Read more