2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Anthony Minghella's Oscar-nominated adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 bestseller, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Now, Steven Zaillian is giving Highsmith's novels the limited series treatment with a sumptuous eight episodes on Netflix, Ripley, all captured in black and white. This aesthetic choice taps into the early 1960s setting and leans into the noir elements of this story, setting it apart from the sun-drenched palette of Minghella's masterpiece.
Andrew Scott plays grifter Tom Ripley, who is struggling to get by in New York when an opportunity to experience an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy drops in his lap. What follows is a web of lies and deception as Tom tries to keep up appearances and experience a life he can't afford. Zaillian thrusts us straight into the middle of the story in Ripley episode 1, "A Hard Man to Find," opening with Tom dragging an unidentified and unresponsive body down a fancy staircase in Rome.
The first episode doesn't reveal who has met a sticky end, but we do get a snapshot of his petty criminal activity before Ripley is sent to bring home the wealthy Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn).
New York City scamming
It's six months before the events in Rome, and Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" plays over a montage of Tom's day-to-day life. We see him practice smiling in a mirror and riding the subway to intercept some mail from chiropractor Dr. Katz. The latter is part of a long-running scam in which he calls up patients about missed payments to get them to send out a new check he can cash.
A private investigator introduces himself at a bar and says Mr. Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan) wants to see Tom. Tom brushes him off but takes Mr. Greenleaf's card.
At the rundown brownstone where he rents a room (with a shared bathroom and telephone), Tom makes scam phone calls with zero privacy and attempts to sound as professional as possible. He heads to the bank to cash one of the fraudulent checks, but he leaves without the funds and his fake ID after the teller takes too long, worrying she is onto his con.
Tom's paranoia is already heightened as someone from the IRS investigations department visited his apartment while he was out. Burning through this alias means Tom has lost income, so he heads to the Brooklyn shipyard where Mr. Greeleaf's business is based to find out what this opportunity could be.
A dream offer
Mr. Greenleaf mentions his son Richard and believes Tom is friends with him. Tom's initial reaction suggests he has no idea who Richard is but registers Dickie as someone he vaguely knows. Dickie has been gallivanting over Europe, and his father thinks it's time to come home.
However, Dickie is living off his substantial trust fund and sees no reason to work for the lucrative family business. Mr. Greenleaf thinks a friend can convince Dickie to stop pretending he is an artist. He'll pay Tom a salary and his expenses to make this happen. It's a dream offer.
At the Greenleaf's apartment, Tom meets Dickie's mother and is shown photos of Dickie as a child, as well as an image of Dickie's girlfriend Marge (Dakota Fanning). Tom mentions his parents are dead, explaining they drowned. Images of water appear throughout the episode, suggesting Tom is troubled by this.
If Tom runs out of money, Mr. Greenleaf will wire more. Dickie's father also sends him to pick up some things for Brooks Brothers that the Greenleafs have bought for Tom to take to their son. Tom gets to pick a bathrobe for Dickie, choosing a burgundy paisley print over two striped choices. The sales assistant asks if he is sure, and Tom confirms he is. Before Tom leaves his apartment, he burns anything pointing to his life of petty crime and packs up everything else.
An Italian adeventure
On the exclusive Orient Express, Tom writes a letter to his Aunt Dottie to explain his good fortune and to say he no longer needs anything from her. "You are free of me now, and I of you," he writes.
Upon arriving in Naples, when looking for the bus to Atrani, he gets scammed out of money for an expensive taxi ride that only takes him part of the way to his destination. When he gets on the bus the following morning, Tom is nervous about how close the bus drives to the edge of the gorgeous Amalfi Coast.
Arriving in Atrani, he locates where Dickie lives: an exhausting hike up many stairs. Tom finds out Dickie is at the beach with Marge, so he has to climb down again. Tom doesn't have a bathing suit, popping into a local boutique and making a daring purchase to blend in (or stand out).
Bumping into Dickie
Tom attempts to casually run into his target on the beach, finding Dickie and Marge relaxing the afternoon away. Of course, Dickie doesn't recognize Tom, and this first encounter is strained and awkward. Marge and Dickie head out into the sea while Tom awkwardly stands on the shore. But he does get an invite to Dickie's place and has to walk up the many stairs once again.
"Il cielo in una stanza" by Mina plays while Tom eyes up the possessions highlighting Dickie's wealth, from the Picasso on his wall to the Montblanc pen on his desk. Tom finds it hard not to stare at these pieces (and Dickie's ring).
Over lunch, Marge is skeptical when Tom claims he is a fan of the Italian painter Caravaggio. Tom almost lets it slip he knows Dickie is an artist because Mr. Greenleaf told him, but he covers his faux pas.
Tom steals the pen from Dickie's desk, which he uses when checking into the hotel Dickie recommended. From his window, he can see Dickie and Marge frolicking on Dickie's sailboat. The episode ends with Tom practicing his DIckie impression, and it seems unlikely he will follow Mr. Greenleaf's directions to convince Dickie to go home.
All episodes of Ripley are now available to stream on Netflix.
