Steven Zaillian doesn’t put a foot wrong in this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley origin story. Maybe that’s the problem. Meticulous to the point of being finicky, this third version of the amoral avatar’s beginnings feels less about Ripley, a malleable con-man who subsumes his victims, than by Ripley. No doubt, Zaillian’s intention. But there’s a difference between the chill Zaillian is aiming for in cast, story and red-filtered b&w image and the vacuum-sealed freeze-dried results, micro-managed less for involvement than for admiration. This eight-part series not so much composed as laid out. Filmed two times before, Zaillian covers most of the narrative used in previous attempts in the first three episodes.* (Cash poor drudge, getting by on low-level scams, finds a missing scion living la dolce vita to milk while stealthily taking over his life.) Mid-way along, the pattern can only repeat in different photogenic locations, as the story recedes into a detective yarn to set up the got’cha ending from THE USUAL SUSPECTS/’95. (Perhaps Highsmith got there first.) Oddly, everything seems most believable as more dialogue switches to Italian. Along with the period detail, it brings just the right amount of distancing to the characters’ opaque qualities. Undoubtedly an achievement (13 Emmy noms with 4 wins), but, as the stand-up comics like to say, a long walk to the payoff.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: All sorts of similarities in plot and amorality in the under-seen MASQUERADE/’88. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2023/11/masquerade-1988.html OR: John Malkovich, who gets a late cameo role here, plays Ripley in RIPLEY’S GAME/’02. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/ripleys-game-2004.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *PURPLE NOON/’60 gave its Ripley Alain Delon’s unsettling beauty; THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY/’99 with Matt Damon uncovered traces of vulnerability; here, Andrew Scott’s considerably older Ripley plays cool intellect against time’s wingéd chariot.
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