Ripley: Andrew Scott wasn’t right for Tom Ripley
As a big fan of Patricia Highsmith‘s novel The Talented Mr Ripley and Anthony Minghella‘s 1999 film adaptation, I had high hopes for Ripley.
The Netflix miniseries, with Andrew Scott in the title role, pales in comparison to the film in almost every way – the look, the casting, the characterisation. It doesn’t help that the cast was so on point in 1999 with Matt Damon as Ripley alongside Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddie Miles. They were so charming and warm and bursting with energy, but in this version, they’re muted, colourless (quite literally) and less interesting.
I appreciate the fact that creator Steven Zaillian wanted to put his own mark on the material and do something completely different to the film. I didn’t expect Scott’s version of Ripley to be a repeat of Damon’s but it’s too different. Damon’s Ripley had the boyish charm and seemed nerdy, friendly and a bit vulnerable, while Scott’s Ripley is cold, unfriendly and weird and I couldn’t see why Dickie and Marge would invite him into their world. He gives off bad vibes immediately!
I love Scott’s work usually (and raved about his turn in All of Us Strangers) but this isn’t necessarily a criticism of his performance – he was simply not the right fit. Besides the different approach, there’s no hiding the fact that Scott is significantly older than Ripley should be and much older than his co-stars Johnny Flynn (Dickie), Dakota Fanning (Marge) and Eliot Sumner (Freddie).
At first, I wasn’t super keen on Fanning’s approach to Marge. Paltrow’s version is a welcoming presence and takes an instant liking to Tom whereas they don’t have that closeness here. She seems suspicious of him immediately and they don’t gel or become friends. But I really liked her portrayal once the action moved away from Atrani because her scepticism worked perfectly. This is the same for Sumner as Freddie. Their characterisation is very different from Hoffman’s but their pivotal scene in Rome is excellent.
I also couldn’t resist comparing the projects’ appearances. I get that Zaillian wanted to put this own visual stamp on the story but why black and white? Why strip Italy of all its sunkissed beauty?!! This particularly bothered me in the three Atrani-based episodes. It’s supposed to look so glorious! It doesn’t help that those three episodes are brutally slow and dull. Thankfully, the pace improves as the show progresses and I liked that we got to spend more time with Inspector Ravini (Maurizio Lombardi) during his investigation.
I would have probably liked Ripley more if the film didn’t exist. I couldn’t help comparing Scott to Damon and he didn’t even come close.
Streaming on Netflix now