Ripley’s Game
New Line Home Entertainment, $26.99This elegant, English-language thriller from Italian filmmaker Liliana Cavani is further proof – as if we needed it – that theatrical distribution in the U.S. has gone positively loony. Filmed two years ago, denied distribution Stateside since then, and now gone straight to DVD, Ripley’s Game stars John Malkovich as Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith’s beloved serial-killer-cum-art-aficionado. (Ripley’s last screen incarnation came by way of baby-faced Matt Damon in the less effective The Talented Mr. Ripley.) Malkovich, quite unshockingly, is a dynamo in the role, eliciting revulsion, then sympathy, within one cool nod of the other. That and an eye for art direction and cinematography worth swooning over make for a film so sleek, so sophisticated, it’s no wonder the suits of American distribution didn’t get it – even if American critics routinely cited it as one of the best films of the year. Special features include interviews with the cast and crew, but be warned: They can only be accessed by DVD-Rom, and the disc I got wouldn’t play nice with my Mac.
This article appears in May 21 • 2004.
