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The Talented Mr. Ripley

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When picking out films to see, I usually gravitate toward the "small" independent type of film usually avoiding the larger "major" productions. Thus, I avoided "the Talented Mr. Ripley" up until recently. My mistake! "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is outstanding and has, to me, everything a movie should have to make it the "complete film experience"-great script and direction, great acting, wonderful sound tract and beautiful cinematography. This film has it all!
The acting, by all of the actors, is superb. Matt Damon, as Tom Ripley is outstanding. He portrays a very complicated character believably. At no time are you aware that he is acting. This character does things that are, indeed, despicable; however, due to the acting skills of Damon, I actually liked the guy and felt deep sympathy and empathy for him and for his desire to be someone else
(I think we all have been there-at least I have-fortunately all of us don't do what Tom Ripley does, in the film, to achieve our wishes). To me the last scene of the film is fantastic and heart breaking due to Matt Damon giving a gut wrenching performance--the character Tom has finally found someone to love, and has found someone that accepts him as himself but due to past deeds and the need to keep his past hidden, he has to kill the person that could have brought him love and happiness. As usual, Jude Law, as the playboy and errant son Dickie, is awesome. He plays a cad but due to his acting skills you, like this cad. Gwenyth Platrow gives a "knock-em dead" performance, as Dickie's girlfriend starting out as a plastic rich "air-head" and ending up as the only one that really knows what has happened to Dickie when he has disappeared and becoming a completely different person because of that knowledge. Her knock down drag out with the character Tom is great. Cate Blanchett plays a socialite- debutante-type wonderfully. The acting alone would have made "The Talented Mr. Ripley" a great film; however, there is more!
The film has one of the best sound tracts that I've ever heard. The sound tract makes use of Renaissance Church music, so-called "Classical music" "cool" jazz and one of my favorites I (if not my favorite) pop standards-"My Funny Valentine" sung wonderfully by Matt Damon. The sound tract is gorgeous! What impressed me the most is that Matt Damon and Jude Law took the time to learn to really play the instruments that they were suppose to be playing in the film-Damon, the piano and Law the saxophone. One of my favorite scenes is in the smoked filled American-jazz nightclub--fabulous.
The recreation of 1950-era Italy is great and it is shot beautifully.
If you want to have an enjoyable film experience, buy this film

Minghella's sleek, gorgeous movie version of Patricia Highsmith's classic novel of suspense is near-perfect. The story, set in and around stunning Italian coastal hot spots, circa the 50s, remains fresh and infinitely compelling; the main character, Tom Ripley, is that fascinating mix of vulnerability and psychotic killer, much like Norman Bates in Psycho. Matt Damon does his best with this role; casting him I think was the film's one half misstep -- Damon exudes such a glamour and self-possession that it is difficult to wholly buy his insecurity, though adding more than a hint of homosexuality does much to make him more believable. The other performances, however, are riveting. Philip Seymour Hoffman is perfection as a smart, slick, obnoxious friend of Dickie's; Cate Blanchett, an added character, is engrossing, funny and heartbreaking, too; Gwenyth Paltrow, often overlooked in the reviews for this film, is spectacular in each and every scene, conveying the privilege of her class and also her near-desperate need for Dickie's love. But Jude Law emerges as a superstar in the movie -- he has the matinee-idol look of 50s stars, and does an amazing job of creating Dickie Greenleaf, that kind of shiny, sexy person, someone who has it all, with a cavalier indifference to those who love him most. The musical score is evocative and moving. The opening credits, an artistic risk, set up, with glossy, hynotic camera work, a film that will often leave you breathless. A thinking man's thriller, one that is not easy to forget.

Every year, certain films are released that are completely misunderstood, either by critics, or by the movie-going public and Anthony Minghella's take on the Patricia Highsmith novel "The Talented Mr Ripley" falls into this category.

It was perceived as a suspense thriller, which the trailer did nothing to dispel but it is so much more than that. It is a thought provoking character study of a man so uncomfortable with his own personality that he must try an inhabit that of another man, the unfortunate Dickie Greenleaf. However to do so means a few murders and this is where the film gets its marquee appeal. Matt Damon invests the role with such subtlety that you are taken by surprise - no longer the apple-pie boy of past films, here he is a sad character, and one which the audience feels for, despite resorting to murder. It is a standout performance which deserves far greater recognition. Jude Law confirms his status as the new star in the sky (remember Joseph Fiennes?) and delivers his dark prey to the willing Ripley. And Gwyneth Paltrow confirms her status as the new Grace Kelly - so bright at the beginning of the film but by its end her mood is much more sombre as she tries to expose Ripley. The rest of the cast are uniformly excellent with Cate Blanchett adding to her CV with another brilliant turn.

This is a superb movie and I advise anyone who hasn't seen it to do so immediately. A thought-provoking supremely literate and at times, bloody scary film.

When I first saw this movie in late 1999 in the theatres, I was stunned by how beautifully-crafted it was--- and it got great reviews, too.

I found it a wonderful period piece, very atmospheric, a real artistic feat.

Yet, the industry seem to forget about the film by the time the Oscars rolled around (just 3 months later), the movie's never mentioned anywhere, and it just seemed to be wiped from collective memory almost instantly.

Even stranger, it had (and has) an odd anti-fan base that HATE it with a passion.

I hate to be snobbish, but was this just too good for mainstream audiences? And is this picture one of those that's going to have to be "rediscovered" in 20 years as an unsung, forgotten classic?

Great movie! A thinking man's thriller, yes, featuring a talented cast and no clunky performances. Mid-century Italy is lensed so beautifully here you'll be calling a travel agent. Bikes on narrow streets. A flock of birds rising in a roomy town square. Heaped fruit. Boats leaning in the wind on the sun-kissed coast.

Matt Damon plays the lead character, Tom Ripley, a closeted gay man whose self-hatred has fueled a talent to mimic others, to become them even, to find the place where admiration crosses into imitation and then into immolation. In short he destroys those he draws creepily close to.

Jude Law's Dickie barely tolerates Ripley-the-tagalong after Dickie's worried dad sends Tom to retrieve him from the coast of Italy where he's living on his looks and charisma, enjoying jazz and sailing on the family dole. Tom quickly envies Dickie's life, which seems to pass with dreamlike ease and includes a blonde beautiful woman (Gwenyth Paltrow in a flawless performance). Dickie does tolerate Tom despite his seeming mundanity, however, because he senses a powerful and flattering obsession directed at him.

The movie, suffused in Italian sunlight, eventually reveals frightening darkness in the psyches of BOTH its male leads. If Tom is a Borderline Personality, then Dickie is at least Histrionic, incapable of maintaining interest in anyone or anything for very long; neither character, then, has a secure core identity. Sex and death are always interesting, so the erotic scene of Tom and Dickie playing chess with the latter nude in a bathtub and the violent scene of confrontation on a rowboat give two fine actors a chance to plumb intense emotions, which they do with great skill and sensitivity.

Damon's Ripley mimicks speaking voices, signatures, identities, and in one chilling scene the soft expressive singing voice of jazz great Chet Baker. By this sunny film's end, the darkness of a closing door incrementally fills the screen as we realize the full depths of the sociopathic nature of Tom Ripley, now on the run from the police.

Viewers will encounter great acting from the principals (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Matt Damon, Jude Law, & Gwenyth Paltrow) and great direction from Anthony Minghella--who inserts a darkening character study and an effective thriller about shifting identities into a sunny sensual Mediterranean setting and a swirl of golden age jazz.

At once disconcerting and stylish, "Ripley" isn't just a good movie but a masterwork.

Patricia Highsmith's first novel of the Tom Ripley series, (five novels in all) The Talented Mr. Ripley, created an anti-hero that no one had ever seen before. The novel and film presents the story through Ripley's eyes, and even though the man is capable of terrible acts, and commits these terrible crimes relentlessly to attain his own aims, we continue to maintain sympathy for the character; we want him to get away with it, and he usually does. Anyone who has read the novel will agree that Anthony Minghella's screenplay remained faithful to the original, veering off on only a few points, however managed to achieve the same tension, disturbance and suspense, also leaving the audience wondering, after Ripley's final hideous crime, what will this sociopath do next.

The film and novel introduces the beginnings of a sociopath's career. For all we know, killing Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) brutally in the boat was Ripley's first crime. In the film it is almost depicted as an accident, emotions out of control, perhaps self-defence, but Mr. Ripley never acts without a goal in mind, there's purpose in his actions. In this case, coming from a lowly status in society and finally tasting the good life, was something Tom Ripley discovered he couldn't do without, thus, similar to most sociopaths, will commit any act in order to achieve their particular ends, including murder.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of this film comes from Tom Ripley's efforts to become or assume the identity of the man he has murdered. The man's talent lies in his ability to impersonate just about anybody and an amazing skill to spin a tale on his feet - he's convincing liar. Identity is the central theme of this story, but also the way in which we can re-invent ourselves from being nothing to being someone. Even though Ripley has come from lowly beginnings, he is self educated, plays and appreciates opera and classical music and the finer things in life. He is a man of taste, but it is a learned taste, an acquired sensibility. In the film we see Ripley constantly reading Shakespeare, learning Italian, teaching himself about jazz, etc. He is continually improving himself, which of course is admirable, but at bottom, Ripley is just a thug. He's a paradox: we want to like the man, we want him to get away with everything he does, yet at the same time we are appalled at his methods. Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley was truly unique and Matt Damon wonderfully portrays the young version of this character in the film.

This is a beautifully shot film of southern and northern Italy accurately depicting the country in the late 1950's. Minghella ensured time and care was taken with every frame and this certainly shows throughout the picture. The soundtrack is also a work of art including wonderful classic pieces, opera and 50's jazz.

As an avid reader and re-reader of all the Ripley novels, this film only added to the story's appeal, and motivation to crack its covers once again.

And I believe him.

I sympathized with Tom, as I suspect most viewers do, despite his sociopathic nature. I was only sad about one of his murder victims - Peter. Some of the others become so cocky, sickeningly uppity, that you can't wait for them to get off the screen. You want Tom to win. He is the underdog, after all, and people get tired of seeing the same sort of people (i.e. Dickie) win over and over again, especially if they don't make much of an effort. And Dickie is a prime example of someone who doesn't have to work but gets everything handed to him, and he doesn't even seem grateful for it. Spoiled. You know the type.

In a way, Tom reminds me of Vincent, Ethan Hawke's character from Gattaca. Both are very ambitious. Doing anything and everything to fit in with the "upper class/superior society," desperately trying to cover their tracks, obsessed with getting all the details just right..because the consequences of being found out would be disastrous. Both are fascinating characters but Tom is the one that intrigues me the most. He's so cold with that sick, sly smile on his face - you can't help but wonder what he's plotting, what twisted images he's conjured up.

But Tom was a jealous, mad murderer, and Vincent was acting more out of revenge for society's prejudices against the genetically inferior. One could say that Tom was acting out of revenge as well...revenge for having been born poor when he would rather be of the idle rich class, taking advantage of the best things in life. His self-esteem is so low that he has to pretend to be a dead person in order to feel fulfilled - and I don't think he'll ever be completely fulfilled. He'll always be looking over his shoulder, and a rich identity will not cure unhappiness and the void inside.

Italy was a beautiful setting for this movie, adding more culture and depth than many other places, I think. That particular aura of all things foreign helped set the mood to something alluring and dark..

Matt Damon's best film.

Sometimes you love a movie so much you almost can't put into words why. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is one of those films, something haunting, something that stays with the viewer long after the final credits roll.

Matt Damon plays Tom Ripley, a penniless young New Yorker who lives in squalor and works as a men's room attendant; playing piano provides his only real joy. A gig as a substitute accompanist leads to an offer from shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn): for the princely sum of $1000, Tom heads off to Italy to try to corral the millionaire's renegade son Dickie (Jude Law) and persuade him to return home.

Once in Italy, however, Tom immediately falls under the spell of Dickie's ex-pat life of luxury and indolent pleasure. Dickie has pretty much everything: looks, charm, money, nice clothes, gorgeous digs, a sailboat, pretty fiancee Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow), and a gaggle of admiring friends. With a mix of guile and well-timed lies, Tom quickly ingratiates himself into the lives of Dickie and Marge, indulging in some light-hearted hedonism. But there's a current of darkness just beneath the sunny dolce vita, both in Tom's and Dicke's personalities. The tension between them escalates slowly but steadily, and the viewer knows that sooner or later, the powder keg is going to explode.

In the two "Bourne" films, Damon plays a professional killer who's stumbling back toward the light; in "Ripley," he plays a fairly ordinary guy (a "nobody," he calls himself) spiraling down into darkness: the journey, like a train wreck, is awful, but still somehow mesmerizing. Given Ripley's backstory, it's easy to empathize with him despite his immorality, and as with Jason Bourne, the viewer ends up rooting for a morally ambiguous character. Damon is simply aces here, bringing a lot of subtlety and depth to his insanely clever but deeply insecure character. Ripley's extreme neediness fairly leaps off the screen: even more than desiring wealth and luxury, he yearns to be loved, accepted, and well-regarded by others, but given his devious machinations, that's pretty much never going to happen.

Damon has to be at the top of his game, because Jude Law gives him a run for the money at every turn. If Dickie were merely a shallow cad, the movie wouldn't work half as well as it does: the character's appeal isn't that he's wealthy and gorgeous and sexy, it's that he's funny and charming and has a way of making everyone feel special. But he's mercurial and fickle--in one of the film's most revealing scenes, Marge cautions Tom, "The thing with Dickie--it's like the sun shines on you, and it's glorious. Then he forgets you, and it's suddenly very cold." Every character wants Dickie in some way, they all crave his attention, and even when he's not around, everyone talks about him. Like Damon, Law brings a lot of nuance to a character who isn't necessarily the nicest guy you'd ever meet, balancing a very fine line between desirable and despicable.

Paltrow is also terrific as the good-hearted Marge--the character lacks real complexity, but Paltrow nevertheless imbues her with a lot of warmth and sincerity. Over the course of the film, her sunny ebullience begins to dim as she slowly realizes the extent of Ripley's evil, and Paltrow conveys Marge's confusion and anger and fear in a way that's never anything less than convincing. Her wardrobe provides a wonderful indication of the character's mental state: as the light and joy are sucked out of Marge, she grows more groomed and coiffed and covered up, so that by her final scene, she's practically encased in armor, an apt emotional metaphor for the cold, empty shell she's become.

The supporting performances are likewise terrific. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers a knockout turn as Dickie's odious friend Freddie Miles, the only character who sees right through Ripley immediately. Cate Blanchett is similarly strong as Meredith Logue, a well-meaning but vapid socialite who always seems to turn up at exactly the wrong moment--like Freddie, she constantly threatens to expose Ripley's duplicity. Blanchett's performance is remarkable given Meredith's almost complete lack of dimension. I particularly liked Jack Davenport's charming, humorous turn as Peter Smith-Kingsley, probably the most innocent of Ripley's victims.

In addition to a great story and stellar performances from its cast, Ripley boasts some of the nicest possible visuals. Italy in the 1950s provides a sumptuous backdrop for the unfolding drama, from the splendors of Venice and Rome to sun-drenched beaches and postcard-pretty fishing villages. Director Anthony Minghella employs some breathtaking imagery--the use of mirrors and reflections throughout the film is subtle and effective, and there's a shot of the Madonna rising from the sea that's used as masterful foreshadowing. Also top-rate is the music--not only Gabriel Yared's creepy score, but the music that the characters listen to and perform, which brings added dimension to their feelings and personalities.

Rarely do the elements of film-making come together as beautifully as they do in this movie: it's by turns romantic, dramatic, funny, and suspenseful; the acting is top-rate; the visuals and music all support and enhance the characters and story. While not gratuitously violent, it's not for the faint of heart, either: "Ripley" is dark and twisted and ambiguous, its conclusion deeply unsettling. This isn't a film for viewers who like happy endings and pat resolutions. But if you're looking for a film with real substance and no easy answers, I recommend "Ripley" without reservation.

The original source for the screenplay of The Talented Mr. Ripley comes from the American novelist Patricia Highsmith who is known for her psychological thrillers including her infamous Stranger on the Train, which Hitchcock brilliantly adapted in 1951. Highsmith's upbringing was bordered with strained and difficult relationships, as her parents divorced shortly after her birth, she had a strong hatred towards her stepfather, and a love-hate bond with the mother. Shy, withdrawn, and eccentric were some of the characteristics that followed her mysterious life style. Yet, there were several rumors flowing around her that indicated that she was gay. However, she remained single throughout her life while preferring the company of animals. With this in mind and her early interest in psychology, it is easy to see how she can create a gentle, caring, and passionate psychopath such as Tom Ripley.

The first book that Highsmith wrote about Ripley was the Edgar Allan Poe Award winner The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was followed by an additional four adventures. The first cinematic adaptation of this book came in 1960 through Plein Soleil directed by René Clément with Alain Delon cast as Tom Ripley. Almost four decades later director Anthony Minghella returns to the first book of Ripley to which he applied the lengthy title The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr. Ripley. The many descriptive adjectives of the complete film title provide much for the audience to ponder about Tom Ripley's persona. However, viewing of the film will answer some of these questions while it will certainly instigate additional bewilderment. Yet, the concisely brief title The Talented Mr. Ripley offers equally much mystery, as its lengthy companion.

The opening montage opens with an ominously sounding lullaby that accompanies the sharply edged and fragmented imagery of Tom Ripley (Matt Damon). His face emerges fractured similar to the reflection of a broken mirror, which symbolically might suggest a hint of Ripley's broken persona. Simultaneously, the dawdling lullaby's agonizing lyric echoes in the background through the words:

"From the silence, from the night,
comes a distant lullaby.
Soul surrendering your soul,
the heart in you not whole.
For love, for love, walked out,
cast into the dark,
branded with a mark,
of shame of Cain."

These poetic words bring about the notion of jealousy from Cain's slaying of his brother Abel, as God preferred Abel's sacrifice to his gift. It also reflects upon the punishment God threw on Cain for killing his brother, as Cain was doomed to wander the earth for an eternity. Analogously, it presents a strong indication of Ripley's meaningless and aimless existence, as he seeks something better that he finds in the Greenleaf family through maybe wealth, status, elegance, culture, love, belonging, and more.

Eventually, the opening montage bridges into reality through Ripley's flashback voice-over-narration explaining how he wished he could erase his actions of the past by not having borrowed a jacket. This, as the final verse of the ill-omened lullaby pours out over an aristocratic audience on an extraordinarily blossoming terrace facing over the New York's Central Park. The borrowed jacket that Ripley refers to has a Princeton crest on the chest, which Herbert Greenleaf (James Rebhorn) recognizes. Assumingly, Mr. Greenleaf believes that Ripley is an alumnus of the prestigious Ivy League university where his son Dickey (Jude Law) also attended, while Ripley simply borrowed the jacket in order to fill in for an injured pianist. An interesting notion emerges here, as the audience will undoubtedly assume that Matt Damon's character is Ripley, but for all that the audience is allowed to learn, Ripley might only be the assumed alter ego of the pianist whom he pretended to be at the party. Thus, it is interesting to know that Ripley's true identity might never have been revealed in the beginning.

Instead, Ripley (if this is his true name) works as a bathroom attendant at the New York City Opera where he constantly faces the upper classes lavish wastefulness and their taste in the finer things of life. After having worn the Princeton jacket, Ripley has an invitation to meet with the prosperous shipbuilder Mr. Greenleaf, which allows him a chance to reach the things he much desires. It also brings him to Italy where he is supposed to convince Dickey to return home. The trip leads Ripley into a completely new life style without responsibilities and a lot of squandering. In Italy, he also meets Dickey's fiancée Marge Sherwood (Gwyneth Paltrow) and the lone traveler Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett). Everything seems far better than he expected, as he carefully manipulates his way into Dickey's world by becoming his confidant. It comes to a point where the friendship begins to turn into sexual overtones, as Ripley refers to Dickey to look like Superman and in a later scene wants to join him in the bathtub. Overtly, Minghella enhances the strong emotion within the scenes through carefully planed and symbolic mise-en-scene, which supports the homosexual atmosphere between the two men. However, when Dickey meets up with an old friend, Freddie Miles (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the honeymoon comes to an end, as Ripley no longer is the focal point of Dickey's existence.

Anxiety, emotional soreness, and rejection set Ripley in a new direction where his neediness surfaces along with his fear of loosing what he just has acquired. Strong feelings lead him into sad and dismal thoughts rippling through his persona, as notions of jealously, aimlessness, and rootlessness emerge. A rift becomes noticeable through their differences, as Ripley loves the old and traditional while Dickey embraces the fresh and invigorating. Musically, it is especially obvious, as Ripley worships classical and opera when Dickey is a Jazz freak. Yet, Ripley desires to mend the fracture between them in order to keep the life he has grown accustomed to, but Dickey has already made up his mind. In a haze of passion and fear, the slash of an oar blended in blood ends their relationship, which urges Ripley to instinctively make a drastic change to hold onto his ambition of an affluent lifestyle. It slowly turns into a nightmarish journey for Ripley, as he finds himself cornered and must play his cards well in order to find a way out. However, complexity of his dilemma rises beyond his imagination, as past and present becomes too much involved with one another.

What makes the film even more intriguing is the intricate psychology of the villain Ripley, and much of this rests within Highsmith's rich writing. However, Jude Law's Oscar nominated character also plays a strong roll into why Ripley appears naively, as Dickie's persona is far from innocent. Dickie, a sociable smooth talker, appears to have no scruples, as an example, he intentionally seeks the attention of women for a bout in lustful activity without concern for his future wife. In a way Dickie is a sociopath, as he is deceitful, reckless, and impulsive while also displaying complete indifference when hurting someone. In a way both Ripley and Dickie are alike, yet they are very unlike. Ripley has strong feelings for others while Dickie seems to miss them all together with the exception of those for himself. Through these two characters, the audience meets a fascinating relationship between two men, which turns out to be a lethal affair.

In closing, The Talented Mr. Ripley presents a poignantly disturbing tale with a Hitchcockian atmosphere enhanced by its visual and aural elements. Visually, the film applies mise-en-scene purposefully in order to elevate the message with the scene, but it also has an artistic component through the use of reflections in mirrors and the framing of each scene. In combination with the outstanding cast, these visuals become even more potent, as the strong performances elevate the moment within the scenes. The final scene portrays extraordinary strong visuals that will embed themselves in the long-term memory. Yet, it is within the aural experience where the film might hide some of its true gems, as play with both jazz from the 1950s and classical music intentionally bring out the personalities of the characters. It also augments the emotional situations such as when Ripley weeps in the Opera scene. Ripley cries, because he relates to the main character in the duel scene from Eugene Onegin who is a fabrication of several fictitious heroes. In addition, the film succeeds brilliantly in capturing the psychological shadows of Highsmith's fictitious villain while it might also suggest that some of her own persona might rest within our talented Mr. Ripley.

I was a fan of Patricia Highsmith's novel going into Anthony Minghella's film. If you have ever read the book, you'll know there has been a great deal of change. However, I was surprisingly pleased with Minghella's version. In fact, I've grown to love it more than the book.

It's a very well made movie, from the haunting opening song by Sinead O'Connor to the closing shot of a tormented Ripley. The entire movie looks beautiful, with cinematography by Minghella regular John Seale. It is also a very musical movie. Where Dickie was an artist in the book, he is now a jazz musician. There are several nice scenes involving music that you'll enjoy if you are a jazz fan.

What I adore most about Ripley is its story of a man who desperatly wants to fit in. Tom Ripley is a nobody in New York, he works in an operahouse as a bathroom attendant. He lives in a cruddy basement apartment across from a butcher. He cannot afford a piano, so he practises on a paper keyboard. One day, while subbing as an accompanist, Tom stumbles onto an offer to go to Europe. Wealthy Mr. Greenleaf grants him a mission to bring back his prodigal son.

When he arrives in Italy, he realises he has the chance to become a somebody. He is especially enamoured with Dickie Greenleaf, who has a hypnotic effect on everyone he meets. What Tom doesn't particulary understand that Dickie is too narcsistic to care about anyone other than himself. Tom loses Dickie's attention and is devasted.

...

Tom is a character we root for, because he is the underdog. He is not rich or popular, truly deserving of a chance at something better. A lot of people describe this movie as disturbing, but only because of the level of violence. It disturbed me in the way it depicted a person trying to fight their way of their station in life and failing. Ripley is basically a man with good intentions who only wants to be liked. He doesn't do anything cold bloodily, he only [tries] to protect what little he has of his character. If Ripley can't be himself and succeed, what hope does any of us have?