Review: The Talented Mr Ripley

Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and - the selling point for me of any movie - Cate Blanchett. And they're just the names on the cover - Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jack Davenport also feature in this psychological crime drama thriller. Yes, it's so good it gets four genres! You could also add 'romance' to that list...in a very twisted sort of way.

 Directed by Anthony Minghella (of 'The English Patient' fame), who also wrote the screenplay, and based on the novel of the same title by Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr Ripley takes an intense and unconventional look at identity, relationships, friendship, lies and love in all it's complicated glory. As the tag line asks, how far would you go to become someone else?

 I can't believe it's taken me so long to see this movie - if you haven't, I urge you to as soon as you can. What struck me the most was the quality of the writing. We are presented with a story that on one hand seems so far fetched, and yet on the other is so real. Highsmith and Minghella have captured perfectly the humanity and the truth in each of the characters and in their relationships with each other. These characters are brought to life superbly by the cast - Matt Damon gives an absolute stand out performance as Tom Ripley, conveying the extremely complicated array of thoughts and emotions battling inside this very conflicted character. I found myself completely sympathising with him despite the horrific things he does, and I think this is a testament to the writing and Damon's portrayal of truth in the character - as Tom Ripley says in the movie, "Whatever you do, however terrible, however hurtful - it all makes sense, doesn't it? Inside your head. You never meet anybody who thinks they're a bad person..."

Jude Law exceeded my normally average expectations and delivered a fantastic performance as the manipulative, rich, completely selfish, yet entirely charming Dickie. Even Gwyneth Paltrow, who I normally don't think very much of, impressed me with her portrayal of Dickie's gorgeous and easy-going girlfriend. And Cate Blanchett, who never fails to give an outstanding performance, turned a relatively small role into an extremely memorable character.

I was not aware when I started to watch this film how dark and disturbing it was going to get as Ripley's web of lies entangles him to the point of no escape, but the writing was so brilliant, and each character so truthfully played, that it never for a second felt over the top or unrealistic - something that could easily have happened with the same concept but average writing - and I was captivated from start to finish.

The Taste of Freedom...

I won't lie...I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning trying to figure out what to do with myself and generally feeling like I was at a loose end, however Day 2 and I think I'm getting used to this now HSC thing! I have been spending yesterday and today working on my audition monologue for Sydney Theatre School (audition is tomorrow morning!!) and I'm feeling confident with it...well, at least I'm happy with it! Hear's hoping the audition panel feel the same!

     I have recently acquired Season 1 of Packed to the Rafters, possibly my favourite TV show ever and definitely my favourite Australian show. I only started watching it on TV when they were up to about Season 3, though, so I'm loving going back to the very start and seeing how the characters started off and how they've grown up and developed since season 1, especially Rachel - I had no idea she had such a rough and intense start to the show! I've also gained Season 3 of The Big Bang Theory (my favourite sitcom) and so I've been working my way through that as well :D Yes, this is what I do when I've got nothing else to do. I'm going to read back over this in a couple of years and feel sick at how sad and pathetic this is xD 

     Something else I do in my free time is trawl through youtube for interviews with actors - I will, and I think I probably have, sit for hours and watch interviews with actors (real interviews with real actors...I'm not sitting here watching Robert Pattinson talking about what he ate for breakfast...) If you're like me - I highly doubt there is anyone as obsessed with interviews with actors as I am - but if you are, check out this one I found today with Cate Blanchett (ok, so most of the interviews I watch are with Cate Blanchett...what of it?) and Richard Roxburgh talking about Uncle Vanya - a Chekhov play that the Sydney Theatre Company put on last year. You may find it really boring, but I just love sitting and listening to actors talking about their craft!

     Tomorrow I will update you on how my Sydney Theatre School audition went - hopefully with all good news :) I won't know if I've been accepted or not until mid/late December, but I'll tell you how I feel about it! I don't even know if anyone reads this, but if you are, let me know about anything exciting coming up in your life! Are you an actor like me with upcoming auditions or maybe you have a job interview somewhere? Or maybe you're going somewhere in the Christmas holidays that you're really excited for? If you've already left school, can you remember when you finished Yr 12? What did you do in the first couple of days after finishing? Did it feel as weird as it feels for me?

     I'll leave you today with another song that I absolutely love at the moment - last time I showed you 'Pack Up' by Eliza Doolittle and today I'll show you another of my favourites at the moment, and that's 'Set Fire to the Rain' by the simply amazing and stunning Adele. I could list her whole album up here, but I'll just choose this one - enjoy!! 

Until we type again,

Xavier Cooper.