Wow, is all I can say. I'm really trying here...

Have you ever seen a movie that you knew would be a favorite of yours for years to come, if not forever? A movie that grabs you by the throat, squeezes the breath back into your quickly filling lungs, and makes you as uncomfortable as standing outside on a 100 degree day? A movie that also connects to some distant, deep but ultimately important part of your soul, and delivers the very tenseness and terseness that the writer meant to portray in ways that even he couldn’t dream of? That’s asking a lot from a movie, and even the best thrillers, despite record breaking budgets and casts that demand as much money as the GDP of some small countries, can’t consistently deliver the kind of nail biting atmosphere that the genre’s name implies. It takes a well blended recipe to produce a genuine thriller; from the inspired director to the gelled cast members to the fitting locations, the ingredients have to be finely mixed in order for the end product to be believably edible. And the movie needs to have reviewability; a great thriller must be able to reproduce the same feelings of excitement and dread, happiness and nervousness, intenseness and sublime-ness that it originally provoked in you upon the first viewing. There are quite a few things worse than re-watching a movie once held in high regard only to realize that it wasn’t nearly as awe-inspiring as originally thought, but it still sucks.
Knowing this about thrillers, I don’t have many favorite movies that are classified as such; most of my favorites fall in the realm of action/adventure. The X-Men, particularly part 2 (which defies my unmitigated hate for sequels), and all three segments of the Lord of the Rings, rank highly among my favorites of all time. So it was quite a surprise for me when I first saw the Talented Mr. Ripley. The movie had all of the necessary ingredients for a smash; the talented Mr. Anthony Minghella directs a stunning ensemble cast in a well written (although at times a little contrived) character study set in the beautifully rendered pre-refrigerated era of Southern Europe. And, as is so often the case with a film loaded with big name actors, the movie doesn’t fall victim to top heavy, banal acting. Instead, with brilliant performances from Matt Damon (his absolute best since his first film Good Will Hunting), Kate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and the scene stealing Philip Seymour Hoffman, the film is a masterpiece of flowing transitions, building on its premise like a Mozart concerto, until the final, crushing, unpredictable ending.
Having had nothing better to do last night, I sat down to tuna sandwiches and a review of this film that once held the honor of being my favorite of all time. I hadn’t seen it in well over two years; I have several dozen dvds from my brief but exciting stint as a Blockbuster nerd several years ago, but rarely do I sit down to re-watch any of them, choosing instead to waste several hours watching tennis, poker, or any number of endless reality shows, the ranks of which are reproducing stale replicates as swiftly as a dividing zygote. Immediately I realized why this movie had been my favorite for so long, and why it has now reclaimed that revered top spot. So completely has the director captured the essence of the title character, so cleverly has he interwoven the intricate surroundings into the body of the story, and so immersed are the cast into their roles that I’m flawlessly transported back to the time when I first saw the film, fully and completely, even though this has to be the zillionth time I’ve seen it. The same tightness in my belly as Mr. Ripley tells his first lie is there; so is the sickening, queasy apprehension I feel as Dicky (Law) slowly comes to the realization that Tom Ripley is the worst kind of leach. But so believable is Damon as the poor, just-wanna-be-liked Ripley that one can only help but feel pity and sorrow for the poor sap who must take on the dimensions of another person to feel comfortable with himself, and the villain becomes the hero- of sorts. It is this kind of intermixing of characters and feelings, along with a superb script, that sets this movie apart from so many other thriller films. At one point, when the film is headlong into reaching its climax, I feel such dread and apprehension that I cringe and turn away- the very same reaction I had upon seeing it in a crowded theater. I have to remind myself, literally, that this is just a movie; I relish this reaction while reading, when I have to physically set the book down and tell myself that this is fiction after all, just a book, dammit, why are you getting all riled up? as it is the first sign that I’m reading a really great book. When I have that kind of reaction to a movie, having to remove myself from the moment, I know I’m in for a thrill. Perhaps I can relate to the title character a little too closely, perhaps it was the idea that I never really fit in with those I most wanted to associate myself with back in high school, when I had the self assurance of a toddler, or perhaps the movie struck the right chords at the right time upon my first viewing it, and I associate those feelings with the film up to this day. You know, like when you had your first kiss with a person you really liked, not just sort of liked, and perhaps that person was wearing cherry scented lip gloss, or was chewing strawberry flavored gum. You always associate cherry lip gloss or strawberry chewing gum with that particular person or period in your life. But that doesn’t explain how the movie makes me uncomfortable in all the same spots, or grabs my attention at certain times, or how I always find some new detail when I watch it, making it forever new in my eyes. Whatever the case, the Talented Mr. Ripley has just made its way back to the zenith of my movie list. Check it out if you’ve never had the pleasure.