book to film: the talented mr. ripley

Patricia Highsmith wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley in in 1955. She based it loosely on Henry James’s The Ambassadors (which I now have to add to my to-read list). The lead character, Tom Ripley, proved so popular, that she brought him back for four more novels.

When the reader first meets Tom he is living close to the bone in New York City, subsisting on his “friends,” or running various schemes, including mail fraud. But Tom isn’t really great at his schemes, and he doesn’t like people, and he doesn’t have any true friends, just people he can sponge on. Tom’s prospects begin to look up when he runs into the rich Mr. Greenleaf, the father of an acquaintance, Dickie Greenleaf. Mr. Greenleaf wants his son, who he believes is frittering away his life in Italy by dabbling in painting, to come home, get serious, and work at the family shipping business. Tom exaggerates his friendship with Dickie, and agrees to track him down in the (fictional) Italian seaside port of Mongibello – staked with cash from Mr. Greenleaf.

Tom Ripley, (Matt Damon), Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), and Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow) in the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley

Tom doesn’t seem to have any real desire to fulfill his quest and bring home the prodigal son, but he does head to Mongibello and soon meets Dickie and his friend Marge Sherwood. Marge and Tom take an immediate dislike to each other as Tom tries to ingratiate himself with the open and (initially) clueless Dickie. Tom’s motives aren’t clear, to himself or the reader. His strongest motivating factor seems to be survival and acquiring money. He comes from nothing and is determined to not only be able to live, but live well. Dickie enjoys palling around with Tom at first, as a way to avoid Marge’s not-so-subtle attempts to take their relationship to the next level. In the meantime, Tom has been studying Dickie, to the point of copying his mannerisms and attire. One day Dickie walks into his bedroom to find Tom in his clothes – it is from that moment that their newfound friendship begins to sour. Dickie may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but he can sense that Tom is not the real deal, not from his side of the tracks.

There is definitely an undercurrent of sexuality to Tom’s obsession with Dickie, which was made more blatant in the 1999 film version, directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon (Tom), Jude Law (Dickie), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Marge). I had seen the film years ago and didn’t love it. I will say that Jude Law has never looked better on film. It’s a first-class production, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, and Jack Davenport in supporting roles. I just didn’t find Damon to be very compelling. Ripley may be a cipher, but I felt Damon just played him as a blank space. I rewatched it recently, and it’s better than I remember, but Damon is definitely still its weakest link. There is also apparently a French version of the story, Plein Soleil (Purple Noon), filmed in 1960, directed by René Clément and starring Alain Delon that might be fun to track down sometime.

But back to the book . . . even though Tom bristles at memories of being called a “sissie” and is repulsed by Marge, he seems less attracted to Dickie the man than to Dickie’s lifestyle and all its trappings. Tom is first and foremost a parasite. His love of fine clothes and having money to spend will lead to murder and mayhem as he travels across Italy to escape his past and past identity. Tom Ripley is an anti-hero and sociopath who at times may put off the reader, who may find many of his crimes brutal and unnecessary, but Highsmith is such a gifted writer that she effortlessly pulls us into his thoughts and his fears. Will he avoid capture? Do we want him to? I can’t say I liked Tom Ripley much, but I am looking forward to checking out his further adventures.

p.s. Fleabag’s “Hot Priest” Andrew Scott will be portraying Tom Ripley in a new series, Ripley, on Showtime in 2020. So I have to start subscribing to that channel now?

This post first appeared on Cannonball Read 11

almost good — we bought a zoo

I really wanted to like We Bought A Zoo. It had a chance to be something at least fun for kids or quirky/interesting for adults, but director Cameron Crowe takes it so far away from its heart, about a grieving man trying to give his kids a better life, and instead opts to tell a trite and unbelievable love story, as well as trying to preach another one of his catch-phrasy messages at the audience, "All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage," which is supposed to pass for wisdom. People don't talk like that. I'm looking at you, Jerry Maguire.

Damon has more chemistry with a tiger than he does with Johansson

Crowe blows it, not only by pushing an unwanted romance, but also by undermining the built-in animal friendliness that was inherent in the real story of Benjamin Mee and his purchase and refurbishment of a dilapidated family-owned zoo. Crowe has his characters opine, "I like the animals, but I love the humans." Did he really make a movie called We Bought A Zoo and decide that he should push a point about humans being more important than animals? Sounds like hunters, not zoologists, would be the audience for that message. As Crowe told New York Magazine, "It’s got animals attached, and the animals end up being a metaphor for getting over grief."

Even if Crowe did shoot his own film in the foot, there are some bright spots. Matt Damon is completely convincing as a man who just can't get past losing the love of his life to a wasting illness. He has a nice rapport with both kids, the adorable girl that plays his 7 year-old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and boy who plays his troubled teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford) with whom he spends most of the movie trying to find a common ground. They are both grief-stricken, and are believably awkward and tough with each other. He also connects with the animals, especially an elder dying tiger named Spar.

We Bought a Zoo also has some predictable, but still delightfully wacky characters in its motley crew of zoo staff, with Angus MacFadyen (Braveheart, Californication) and Elle Fanning (Super 8, The Nutcracker) as standouts. Thomas Haden Church (Easy A, All About Steve) is always welcome when he is on screen as Damon's cynical brother with a heart of gold. As is hard-assed zoo inspector John Michael Higgins. The movie could have been so much better if it had canned the romance and concentrated on the people and the animals. Why do movies always have to shove a love story down our throats? It's hardly an original plot twist, and in this film is out of place and hard to stomach. Did Crowe really want us to root for the guy who is tortured by losing the love of his life for 120 of its 124 minutes and then have him get over it find "love" with someone 14 years his junior in its last four?

They even look uncomfortable standing near one another

Which brings us to Scarlett Johansson. Damon and Johansson, who plays zookeeper Kelly, have zero chemistry. Johanssen, as usual,  is a bit of a negative presence on screen. She purses her lips in a half-smile in just about every scene, which is a step up, I guess, from her usual blank demeanor, but she doesn't convey much emotion besides the ability to smirk. The one exception is a scene she plays with just the kids. She orders them a pizza and talks with Dylan, and seems, for a few moments, really involved. But as a head zookeeper and a possible replacement love interest for Damon's grieving widower she is woefully miscast. It also doesn't help that the few scenes depicting Katherine, the deceased wife (Stephanie Szostak, Dinner for Schmucks), Katherine's character is so much more compelling than Kelly's.

We Bought a Zoo never really touches on why or how the little zoo existed in the first place. There was an interesting story here, with some potentially intriguing, offbeat people, but unfortunately, that's not the story that Crowe chose to tell.