Word: mightly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...choice to portray Tom Ripley as a gay man is risky, and not only for Matt Damon's career. As a man capable of murder on a bad day (don't worry, I'm not really giving anything away), a gay Thomas Ripley might become some terrible variation on the mythic self-hating homosexual serial killed--a queasy Andrew Cunanan done up in old-fashioned clothes. But the change actually produces all kinds of new tensions that deepen the emotional weight of the story. Tom's confused sexuality is just another expression of his place outside the privileged world...
...brings this character to life with such exquisite sensitivity that he more than justifies the touchy business of Tom's gayness. I wouldn't be surprised if you hear the name Davenport again sometime soon. If Anthony Minghella weren't such a smart writer and director, the changed emphasis might have obscured the icy brilliance of Tom's amoral talents. But Minghella knows a good story when he sees one--his last triumph was the sweeping, stony The English Patient-- and he treats Tom Ripley's tale like David Lean on an epic bender. The thriller story becomes woven into...
Although its humor is often dark, comedy does not escape this production. As the precociously naive and fashion-impaired George Aaronow, Juri Henley-Cohn ('00) delicately handles and balances a role which, had it been exaggerated, might have destroyed the naturalism of the piece. As Shelley Levene, an aging seller desperate for a comeback, Paul Monteleoni ('00) continually provides the play with energy and freshness. If ever this humorous vitality turns unwieldy, Monteleoni always manages to rein himself back in with a sudden change of tone or an expression that reestablishes realism in the scene. Although saddled with...
...many voiceovers quoting directly from the book simply aren't sufficient to transfer the spirit, humor and pathos from the page to the screen. While multiple themes may have worked in the book, they take away from any strong focus the film might have had. Parker should have chosen from a few of the many themes that run wild through the movie: the father/son relationship, religion, storytelling, education, poverty and class struggles are all jumbled together in a coming-of-age format. Instead of being rabidly faithful to the book and trying to include four out of every five anecdotes...
...Unfortunately, the plot and screenplay detract from the film's artistic merit. James Schamus' screenplay might reflect the language of the Civil War, yet the dialogue is entirely self-important and melodrama destroys any stake the viewer might have in the plot. Lee wishes to establish the North as a human presence, so Roedel reads some found union letters to the camp. Similarly, Lee has Roedel and Chiles talk under the stars to emphasize the characters' brotherhood...