Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith's beloved but dangerous hero with a rich history in the movies, returns. Following Alain Delon, John Malkovich and Matt Damon, the crook with a twisted mind is portrayed by Andrew Scott, now starring in the eight-part thriller series on Netflix. Let's see if Steve Zaillian's (Schinder's List, Mission: Impossible, Hannibal) production can live up to expectations.
We've reported several times that Patricia Highsmith's beloved protagonist, the charming and dangerous conman Tom Ripley, is returning to the small screen. The character has previously been brought to life on screen by experienced actors such as Alain Delon, Dennis Hopper or John Malkovich. In Netflix's eight-episode limited series, Sherlock star, 47-year-old Irishman Andrew Scott, has been given the rewarding task. The production, conceived under the direction of writer-director Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List, Mission: Impossible, Hannibal), is based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, of which Anthony Minghella has a brilliant adaptation of a quarter. A century ago. The story begins in New York in the 1960s, where Ripley, hoping to get rich quick, decides to lure a spoiled millionaire kid from sunny Italy home.
Our hero also finds a target named Dickie Greenleaf, but instead of accomplishing the mission, he indulges himself in the carefree, luxurious, crime-ridden world of society.
The trailer for the series, which debuted a month ago, exuded unnerving tension, and the neo-noir atmosphere of the contrasting black-and-white images captured viewers in mere seconds. Recently, the first reviews have arrived: let's see if it's worth sitting in front of the latest version of Ripley!
the Watchman To his credit, Andrew Scott gives a great performance in the lead role, and the creators pay homage to the noir genre with a beautiful lead engine. The critic finds Ripley's series a bit slow compared to today's almost fast-paced series, but its real strength lies in its richness of detail.
the BBC He also talks about working in a tone of rapture. “The Return of Ripley is like the Hitchcock series that Hitchcock never made,” they write, emphasizing how brilliantly Zaillian's clever screenplay is, and the beautiful but dark images of Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit strike fear into the audience.
the rogerebert.com The article notes the music of Jeff Russo (Fargo TV series) as positive, as well as comparing the series to previous Ripley adaptations. “The stories of Clément (René Clément, director of the 1960 film adaptation of Sparkling Sunlight – editor) and Minghella seemed to get closer to the character through his anger and attraction to Dickie Greenleaf. Steve Zaillian and Andrew Scott, on the other hand, stripped Tom Ripley to the extreme: he became The hero is now a con man who steals anything without feeling guilty, whether it is money, art, or a person's entire life.
the Washington Post According to Scott's play, it is completely hypnotic, a diverse His pen, on the other hand, is much more sensitive: in his view, the Irish film star (and his character) lack charm, and although Ripley is a quick-witted and charming character here, her sociopathic and insensitive personality is not. Overwhelming as in previous amendments. The author also complains that the main character and Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) are surprisingly old this time around (the actors are also in their forties), and this somewhat distorts some of the key moments in the plot. According to Variety, the episodes of the series are very long and many of them are empty.
the Rotten tomatoes On the other hand, we get an overall positive picture. The series – after nearly 70 critical reviews – stands at 88 percent, and there is a consensus among experts that Zaillian and his crew have painted Highsmith's story with many wrinkles in a completely new shade, the neo-noir atmosphere is really great, and Scott plays the main role.
“It differs in some of its partial solutions, it expands some details further, but it follows the line of the original novel almost all the way,” the Los Angeles critic dissected the relationship between the series and the source work. times. And the Rolling Stone author believes that even if the new Ripley doesn't become an instant classic like Minghella's 1999 film version, it can already be said that Netflix has released one of the most exciting series of the year.
So it looks like Zaillian and Scott have turned the jump into a goal and are actually getting the most out of the contaminant. See for yourself! Ripley is available on Netflix from April 4.
