Netflix: “Ripley,” starring Andrew Scott
Who likes grifters? Answer: nobody. Their appetite for taking without giving back is voracious. They seem to glide through life with nary a consequence.
But sometimes they’re so slick you have to admire their sheer audacity, particularly if they’re a grifter like Tom Ripley, the bloodless amoral hero of “Ripley” (Netflix’s), played by actor-of-the-moment Andrew Scott.
The eight-episode mini series, written and directed by Steven Zaillian (screenwriter from”Schindlers List”) was intentionally shot in black-and-white to give the story the sinister noir-ish interpretation that author Patricia Highsmith intended.
As in the 1999 movie “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Tom, a loner who runs a phony collection agency in New York, is approached by Park Avenue shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan the playwright) about traveling to Atrani, a small town on the Amalfi Coast. He wants Tom to convince Herb’s errant son Dickie (Johnny Flynn) to give up his dolce vita lifestyle in Italy, where he lives off a trust and spends his time in painting (horribly), and come home to join the family business.
Tom is agreeable since Herbert is picking up all travel expenses. Once the grifter gets to Atrani, he visits Dickie and his gf Marge (a perfectly chilly Dakota Fanning) in their luxurious atelier. Tom gradually works his way into their confidence and begins admiring Dickie’s Picasso, watch and signet ring. He starts to get greedy.
Gradually a friendship the two men develops which pointedly leaves Marge out. Dickie begins to feel guilty about this and suggests Tom absent himself from the picture. An angry Tom, in an impulsive moment, decides to kill Dickie while the two are taking a motor boat for a spin in San Remo.
Quickly, Tom pivots and hatches another plan: dispose of the corpse and become Dickie Greenleaf. Tom-as-Dickie goes into hiding in Rome, wearing Dickie’s clothes and cashing his travelers checks. He’s in the clear until Freddie Miles (Eliot Sumner) a friend of Dickie, comes to look for him, smells a rat, and confronts Tom. Tom in an equally impulsive moment bashes Dreddie over the head and disposes of the body in the Appian Way.
This double murder leads to a cat-and-mouse chase between Tom-as-Dickie, Marge, and the Italian police. Tom is always one step ahead of everybody, especially Inspector Ravini (the marvelously deadpan Maurizio Lombardi) which leads to some hilarious comments, mispronunciations of English and reveals the general cluelessness and sloppiness of the Italian authorities.
Scott is truly on point as Tom Ripley, a shape-shifting psychopath, ever ready with a smile and an alibi. Ripley loves his new life as Dickie the rich boy, and after visiting a number of Italian churches, gains an appreciation of Italian masters, especially Caravaggio—a bad boy artist who was a murderer like Tom is.
Flynn is terrific as Dickie—the chilly preppy who despite having every advantage in life is feeling a bit lonely in Italy and sees Tom as a fellow adventurer. But he insists, “I’m not queer.” (Highsmith leaves the relationship ambiguous).
Nobody displays quiet outrage better than Fanning; the look of hatred she gives Tom for “stealing” her boyfriend could melt Antarctica. Sumner (who happens to be the son of Sting) is serviceable as the obnoxious Freddie Miles. His androgynous interpretation is 180 degrees from Philip Seymour Hoffman’s interpretation (although PSH is actually more faithful to the Highsmith book.
The movie is as Italian as “L’Avventura.” At least 60 percent of the dialogue is in Italian (with English subtitles) and it is further credit to Scott that he speaks it so well. What’s more, despite the monochromatic black-and-white, Amalfi villages have never looked so authentic and chaotic Naples has never looked so dignified.
“Ripley” by the way is worlds away from the 1999 film. The relationship between Ripley (as played by Matt Damon) and Dickie (Jude Law) was played primarily as a gay one, and the location was practically a postcard for an Italian seaside vacation. None of that exists in “Ripley.”
So even if you think you know the story of Tom Ripley, you really don’t, until you’ve seen this wickedly great, wickedly cruel, and often wickedly funny series. Bravissimo a tutti!