The film Ripley's Game made its American debut on the Independent Film Channel on September 4th and will be repeated in the coming weeks. It was actually filmed a few years ago and went through countless delays during and after post-production, until it finally received a release throughout most of Europe - garnering a nice collection of positive reviews. None of them were glowing, mind you, but most of the reviews were appreciatively respectful. None-the-less, the folks at Fine Line decided it wasn't worth releasing in the United States, which I'm sad to report was probably a financially sound decision.


Ripley's Game is based on the second of the Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith. Her first novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, was made into a wonderful and highly underrated film by Anthony Minghella in 1999, which featured excellent performances from Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. It was also beautifully shot and rich with texture and atmosphere. And this is really one of the biggest problem's with Ripley's Game - it tries to exist under the shadow of a very good, very recent movie featuring the same character. In my mind, Damon was so compelling and intriguing as Tom Ripley that no actor - even John Malkovich - can fully assume the role.

This isn't to say this film doesn't have its merits; in fact, it's far better than many of the movies that made it into theaters this summer. The story isn't nearly as good as its predecessor, but there are particular scenes that make it worth watching - notably a scene in which Ripley's pawn (the man he manipulates as the basis for the entire story) attempts to kill a well-protected man on a train. As fun and unexpected as this moment is, it was also the point at which I realized what probably doomed the film from ever having a chance to make it into theaters state-side: it looks as though it was filmed in the late 1970s. I don't know if it was the cinematography, the film stock, or simply the locations used, but it just doesn't look like modern day. Normally this wouldn't be such a problem, but when you contrast the film's appearance with the constant use of small, thin cell phones, the whole thing seems slightly off and kind of surreal.

Posted September 9, 2003 | link