감독: Anthony Minghella
주연: Matt Damon/Gwyneth Paltrow/Jude Law/Cate Blanchett/Philip Seymour Hoffman/Jack Davenport/James Rebhorn/Sergio Rubini/Philip Baker Hall
* This film is Based on novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
피아노 조율사와 낮에는 호텔맨으로 평범한 리플리(Thomas Ripley)는 화려한 인생의 주인공이 되고 싶었지만 행운이나 기회도 없는 젊은이다.
어느날 화려한 파티석상에서 피아니스트 흉내를 내는데 선박 부호인 그린리프(Herbert Richard Greenleaf)의 눈에 띄어 자유분방한 아들 딕키(Richard 'Dickie' Greenleaf)를 이태리에 가서 데리고 오라고 리플리에게 부탁을 하게된다.
리플리는 딕키의 정보를 꼼꼼하게 수집한다. 딕키가 좋아하는 재즈 음반을 들으며 그 자신처럼 느낀다.
이태리에서 프린스턴 대학 동창이라며 딕키에게 서서히 접근하여 딕키와 그의 연인인 마지(Marge Sherwood)와도 급격히 친해진 리플리는 본인도 상류사회의 일원이 된 듯한 착각을 하게 된다. 엄청난 재산, 아름다운 여인, 행복한 인생들을 앞에두고 일어나는 리플리의 story.
Tom Ripley is a young man struggling to make a living in 1950s New York City with his "talents": telling lies, forging signatures and impersonating people. While working at a party as a piano player, he is approached by wealthy shipbuilder Herbert Greenleaf, who mistakenly believes that Ripley attended Princeton with his son, Dickie. Greenleaf recruits Ripley, for $1,000, to travel to Italy to persuade Dickie to return home. After the voyage while collecting his luggage, Ripley strikes up a friendship with an American socialite, Meredith Logue, and pretends to be Dickie.
In the Italian seaside town of Mongibello, Ripley charms himself into the lives of Dickie and his fiancée, Marge. Ripley becomes infatuated with Dickie's extravagant lifestyle; he also becomes obsessed with Dickie himself. Eventually, however, Dickie tires of him and starts spending more time with his Princeton friend Freddie Miles, a womanizer who treats Ripley with contempt. When Dickie impregnates a local woman, he rejects her and she drowns herself. Only Ripley knows what happened, and he promises to keep it a secret. One night, Dickie catches Ripley dressed in his clothes and pretending to be him in front of a mirror, which further alienates him from Ripley. When Dickie's father cuts off Ripley's travel funds, Dickie cancels a planned trip to Venice and tells Ripley they should part ways, but offers to take him on a short, final trip to San Remo. They take a boat out, but when Ripley suggests they move in together, Dickie says he has grown tired of him and is going to marry Marge. The two fight, and Ripley beats Dickie to death with an oar. Ripley scuttles the boat in a nearby cove.
Realizing that people easily mistake him for Dickie, Ripley decides to steal his identity. He forges a letter to Marge, convincing her that Dickie has left her to live in Rome. He creates the illusion that Dickie is still alive by checking into one Roman hotel as Dickie and another as himself, creating an exchange of communications between the two. Through forgery, he is able to draw on Dickie's allowance, which allows him to live lavishly. He runs into Meredith, who believes that Ripley is actually Dickie; Ripley pretends to romance her to gain access to her wealthy circle of friends. His ruse is threatened when Marge arrives in Rome, so he breaks it off with Meredith to prevent himself from being exposed. Freddie shows up at Ripley's apartment looking for Dickie and is very suspicious. When the landlady tells Freddie about Dickie playing the piano and later addresses snooping Ripley as Dickie, Freddie realizes the fraud, but Ripley beats him to death with a stone bust before he can tell anyone. After disposing of the body, Ripley is forced into a cat-and-mouse existence between the Italian police and Marge. Realizing that the police suspect Dickie of murdering Freddie, Ripley forges a suicide note, with "Dickie" claiming responsibility for Freddie's death. Ripley then travels to Venice, where he meets Marge's friend, Peter Smith-Kingsley, and they become very close.
Dickie's father travels to Italy to meet with the police, bringing along a private detective, Alvin MacCarron. Ripley prepares to kill Marge when she discovers Dickie's rings in his possession and begins to deduce what has been going on, but Peter interrupts them. Mr. Greenleaf dismisses Marge's suspicions, and MacCarron reveals to Ripley that the police are convinced that Dickie, who had a history of violence, murdered Freddie before killing himself. MacCarron further indicates that out of appreciation for Ripley's loyalty to Dickie—and to assure Ripley's silence—Mr. Greenleaf intends to bequeath Dickie's trust fund to Ripley. Free and clear of his crimes, Ripley boards a ship to Greece with Peter; it is implied that they are now lovers. Ripley is surprised to encounter Meredith, who knows him as Dickie and also knows Peter socially. Killing Meredith to avoid being exposed as an impostor is impossible because she is traveling with family. Ripley returns to his cabin, where Peter confronts him about knowing Meredith; a sobbing Ripley then strangles Peter, and returns to his cabin, alone.
