Top 10 Differences Between Ripley (2024) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

While there have been multiple film adaptations of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels, Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is often considered the most iconic. However, the complex story was limited to a runtime of 139 minutes. In Netflix’s “Ripley,” writer-director Steven Zaillian is able to tell the story over eight hour-long (give or take) episodes, which drastically changes the pacing. We can spend more time with Tom, experiencing everything from his paranoia walking around the city to his frustration and panic during exhausting crime scene clean-ups. Zaillian preferred the episodic structure, telling Vanity Fair that it allowed him “to be more faithful to the story, tone, and subtleties of Highsmith’s work.”

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” begins with Tom Ripley playing piano at a rooftop party where he meets Herbert Greenleaf. Tom’s Princeton jacket catches his eye, and assuming he went to school with his son, Greenleaf explains the situation with Dickie. The two later come to an agreement that Tom will visit Dickie in Italy, encouraging him to return home. However, what Greenleaf didn’t see was Tom giving the borrowed jacket back to its owner. The series shows Tom, already a professional scammer, being approached by a private detective who passes along a message from Mr. Greenleaf. When Ripley and Mr. Greeneleaf go over the specifics at the shipyard, their interaction lasts longer. We also follow Tom’s lengthy travel overseas via boat, bus, train, and taxi.

Both the film and the limited series show Tom Ripley meeting Dickie Greenleaf and his girlfriend Marge Sherwood, pretending to be an old Princeton classmate. Once he’s comfortably close to Dickie, he’s honest about why he’s there. In the film, Tom surprises him with an accurate impersonation of Mr. Greenleaf. Dickie’s even more surprised when Tom repeats his father’s proposition to him. A less dramatic version of this reveal happens in the second episode of “Ripley,” with Tom telling him flat out what he was tasked to do. In both scenes, Dickie finds it amusing and befriends Tom anyway. However, later in the episode, Tom still shows off his eerie talent.

One of the most pivotal moments in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” is when Tom kills Dickie on a boat in the middle of the ocean. In the film, Dickie essentially “breaks up” with his new friend in what becomes a heated argument. Tom, visibly heartbroken by Dickie’s words, hits him with an oar, subsequently killing him with it. In the series, Dickie is more casual about parting ways. Tom hides his anger and stays calm throughout the conversation. Then Dickie turns his back and Tom kills him with hardly any emotion. The film suggests Tom acted in a fit of passion and shows him laying next to Dickie’s body. The series, on the other hand, follows Tom covering his tracks.

In the trailer, “Ripley” is a noticeably darker take on Highsmith’s swindler tale, but not just because it was literally shot in black and white. Steven Zaillian leaned more into the noir genre for his early 1960s-era series and the stunning cinematography creates a perfect atmospheric eeriness. Anthony Minghella’s film, set in the late 1950s, is known for its beautiful Euro escapism aesthetic. Almost every scene is naturally lit with sunny skies and sparkling seas, centered on characters donning chic wardrobes. The series’ overall tone feels decidedly sinister, though it interestingly has more humor than the film, mostly during Tom’s awkward and frustrating first encounters in Italy.

Both “Ripley” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” largely centers on Tom, Dickie, and Marge. But they also have some notable supporting characters, including Dickie’s wealthy friend Freddie Miles, played in the film by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eliot Sumner in the series. Minghella cast Cate Blanchett as Meredith Logue, an American heiress Tom meets on his way to Italy, who was an original character. Dickie’s pregnant mistress Silvana also didn’t exist in the novel. He created a larger role for Jack Davenport’s Peter Smith-Kingsley, making him another romantic love interest of Tom’s who meets a tragic end. For the series, Zaillian added Reeves Minot, a character from Highsmith’s other Ripley novels, played by John Malkovich, who himself played Tom in 2002’s “Ripley’s Game.”

In the film, the characters are lively and emotional, be it excitement, heartbreak, or anger. But the series digs deeper into the less idyllic aspects, making them reserved and much less expressive. Zaillian also made the main trio — Tom, Dickie, and Marge — older than their film counterparts, putting them in their 30s rather than mid-twenties. In contrast to Jude Law’s wildly magnetic Dickie Greenleaf, Johnny Flynn plays a more subdued version, one who’s still charismatic but not bursting with energy. As in the novel, the series makes Dickie an aspiring painter instead of the film’s jazz-obsessed amateur saxophone player. Similarly, Hoffman’s Freddie Miles was a loud, snobby womanizer. However, Eliot Sumner uses their natural British accent, exuding confidence and sophistication without being over-the-top.

In the film, when Marge Sherwood meets Tom, she’s friendly, welcoming, and even looks out for him. They sort of bond over their shared admiration of Dickie and what it feels like to be cast aside when something or someone else grabs his attention. But in the series, Marge doesn’t like Tom from the start and finds his random arrival suspicious. She’s polite but mostly cold, judgemental, and annoyed with his presence. The two iterations of their relationships unfold very differently. Towards the end, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Marge thinks Matt Damon’s Tom murdered Dickie even though no one else believes her. Although Dakota Fanning and Andrew Scott’s character versions maintain a rivalry built out of jealousy, their ending is relatively amicable.

When it came to the film’s resolution, “The Talented Mr. Ripley” made a significant diversion from the source material. Marge has a nearly fatal confrontation with Tom, accusing him of Dickie’s murder. But she’s alone in that theory, so Tom continues traveling with Peter, implied to be his partner. But the arrival of Meredith, who still thinks he’s Dickie, threatens his current ruse. Since killing her isn’t an option, he takes Peter’s life and ends up alone. “Ripley” sees Marge confronting Tom, but comes to the false conclusion Dickie took his own life. In the final moments, Tom meets up with Reeves, ready to take on a new identity, while Inspector Ravini finds a photo of the real Dickie Greenleaf, realizing he’s been conned.

Matt Damon’s bespectacled Tom Ripley is a young man who desperately wants to be a part of high society. The 1999 film humanizes him as naive, nervous, and like the film’s other character interpretations, considerably emotional. His insecurity partially stems from his seemingly unexplored sexual identity, which neither the novel or film explicitly confirm. Like in the novel, Andrew Scott’s Tom Ripley is assertive, calculating, arrogant, and paranoid about being followed. Both share that unsettling obsession with Dickie, though the series is seemingly more about Tom wanting Dickie’s life and less about wanting him romantically. Damon was more sympathetic and relatable, while Scott is cunning, cruel, and arguably without remorse. However, he’s still able to be an oddly charming anti-hero.

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