Matt Damon has such an inherent geniality that he can play the most questionable characters — such as an expert assassin in the Jason Bourne series and a whimpering wreck with a fragile ego in The Last Duel — and still make the audience root for him. Director Anthony Mighella was after this very charm when he cast Damon in the titular role in The Talented Mr. Ripley. He wanted audiences to empathize with the sociopath that Damon played so memorably in the movie, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Audiences that have never seen Damon as the sinister character will get an opportunity to do so next month, when the film lands on Netflix.
Based on Patricia Highsmith‘s novel of the same name, the movie debuted to positive reviews and box office success in 1999. This was after Damon had already broken out as a star with Good Will Hunting, but a couple of years before he became a bona fide leading man with The Bourne Identity. The Talented Mr. Ripley also features Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, and Jude Law in supporting roles, with Law going on to earn an Academy Award nod for his performance. Produced on a reported budget of $40 million, The Talented Mr. Ripley grossed nearly $130 million worldwide. The movie also earned positive reviews, and is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 85% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “With Matt Damon’s unsettling performance offering a darkly twisted counterpoint to Anthony Minghella’s glossy direction, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a suspense thriller that lingers.”
Matt Damon Is Set to Headline His Biggest Movie
Steven Zaillian adapted Highsmith’s novel again last year, for the Netflix limited series Ripley. It starred Andrew Scott in the lead role, alongside Dakota Fanning and Johnny Flynn. The show received critical acclaim, and won a Peabody Award. Damon, meanwhile, is gearing up for his biggest project yet: director Christopher Nolan‘s epic The Odyssey, which also features Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, and several other A-list stars. The movie will be released theatrically next year, but you can watch The Talented Mr. Ripley on Netflix beginning December 13.
- Release Date
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December 12, 1999
- Runtime
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139 minutes
- Director
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Anthony Minghella
- Writers
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Anthony Minghella
