In The Talented Mr.Ripley, Matt Damon plays Tom Ripley, a man who has two talents. He can play the piano, and he can lie. He commits crimes and gets away with them, because he has the ability to lie successfully, and take on someone else's identity. His main "talent" is deceit. He can think on his feet and improvise, while maintaining a complex and ever-growing web of deception. He has deep psychological problems, no real understanding of or love for himself, and instead of trying to deal with these things, he simply chooses to become someone else. In his own words, "it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody". This belief sets him up for a life in which he will never again be free to just be himself.
The film begins in New York, when a wealthy shipbuilder, Herbert Greenleaf, hires Tom Ripley to travel to Europe and convince his son, Dickie, to come home. Dickie, played by Jude Law, is happily living in Italy with his girlfriend Marge, played by Gwyneth Paltrow and has no intention of going back to New York. He is wealthy, confident and lives his life to the full, exactly the way he wants to. As he says to Ripley, "My father builds boats, I sail them." When Ripley meets Dickie, he immediately confesses his reason for being there, and then proceeds to take advantage of Dickie and Marge's hospitality. His relationship with Dickie quickly becomes unhealthy, he clings and leeches and all but suffocates his friend. Like a sickly child he nuzzles up to "the brother he never had" and eventually Dickie can't take anymore. This is the turning point in the film, Ripley is rejected, crushed, humiliated, and that's when the demons come out.
To describe any more of the plot would ruin the film. It's not all about Ripley, it has many other colourful characters, all acted brilliantly. It's set mainly in 50's Italy and is full of imagery that seems to have come straight from paintings. If this is to be classed as a thriller, then it's certainly a thriller with a difference. Don't miss it.