Ripley's Game

Aroview: Another episode in the life of Patricia Highsmith's amoral, talented manipulator Tom Ripley, here played with dry self-amusement by John Malkovich in one of his best roles.

After his previous successes he is now settled in Italy, and is half-drawn into a criminal scheme, in turn recruiting an unsuspecting (and thoroughly honest) acquaintance for his own nefarious ends. Gaining a certain resonance and psychological comedy from dir. Cavani's European sensibility (despite her abandoning the film partway through), this generally works well; great locales and support cast certainly hold the interest.

NZ International Film Festival 2003