Ripley (TV Mini Series) I A HARD MAN TO FIND (2024) User Reviews

Intriguing, stylish start

[grantss · 9/10 · 23 May 2024]

New York, 1961. Tom Ripley, a small-time fraudster, is approached by millionaire Herbert Greenleaf with a proposal. Greenleaf's son Dickie is living off his trust fund in Italy and has turned his back on his parents. Believing Tom to be a friend of his he, he asks Tom to bring him back to the US. He'll put up all his costs and pay him a salary while he endeavours to bring Dickie back. Ripley accepts.

A great start to the series. From the intriguing opening scene, to the snapshots of what Ripley does for a living, to the proposal and his travels in Italy, it's all class. The black and white creates a film noir-like atmosphere and the plot and performances mesh perfectly with it.

On the subject of performances, I largely watched this because I admire Andrew Scott's work, especially his portrayal of Moriarty in Sherlock. He is great here and adds to the intrigue and engagement.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Patricia Highsmith would have loved it.

[ulicknormanowen · 10/10 · 5 April 2024]

I feared that Netflix mIght butcher one of my favorite thrillers of all time; after all ,there had been two versions before : "René Clément' s 'plein soleil ' (purple noon),starring Alain Delon and Minghella's "the talented etc Mr Ripley" starring Matt Damon .It should be pointed out that these movies, though excellent on their own, took many liberties with the initial novel : Clément's 'main drawback was the Marge/Ripley 's love relationship ,whereas Minghella made Ripley do his coming out when Highsmith,herself a lesbian , always kept things vague ,and would even marry her hero (to a heiress named Héloise ) in the other books of the saga.

Much to my surprise,this is an excellent miniseries , and mainly the most faithful adaptation of Highsmith I have ever seen; filmed in stark black and white , it harks back to the films noirs of yore : Ripley's background and his two-bit swindles ,his crummy flat in NYC , his longing for a life of luxury ( Roy Orbison 's magnificent "in dreams " fits like a glove in the picture) all rings true .Besides ,and for the first time ,sweet auntie Dottie is shortly featured : an orphan ,Tom was brought up by a spineful spinster who humiliated her all along his childhood (see the episode of the car in the book ;here she's in the dentist's office and is given a bad time ), an important thing in the hero's personality .

In direct contrast with that,we have the Greenleaf's wealth ,which represents all that Tom desperately wants ; for him,opportunity knocks ,and he will take no chances.....

This first episode really did bode well for the ones to come ....

charming premise

[Kirpianuscus · 23 April 2024]

Not being a serious fan of Patricia Highsmith univers, considering than Plein soleil and The talented Mr. Ripley are the reasonable adaptations of series, , being Netflix viewer not so often, the basic kick for see was Andrew Scott , especially after admirable job in All of Us Strangers.

I was seduced by the film noir atmosphere.

By close ups and by vulnerability of Thomas Ripley proposed by steven Zallian, by hunted animal status, poor apartment and the tricks for survive defining the life of Ripley.

Not knowing the books, the atmosphere, just beautiful crafted, is enough for me.

So, charming premise.

Spoiler in the first 2 minutes reveals main plot.

[softsofa · 5/10 · 14 April 2024]

I like having some mystery in a mystery. A major reveal in the first minutes bodes ill of what is to follow.

If I had any doubt, which I didn't, the 1/2 minute starting at the 45 minute mark confirmed what was shown in the first minutes of the series.

Finally, a minor event occurred in episode one. It would be of no consequence except that the main character's future action had already been revealed. That event would have immediately alerted him to the probable end result of what he planned to do. I looked up the plot in Wikipedia. That was the ending.

I did start the second episode. However, what the main characters did was too stupid to be credible, so I stopped watching. Here's why:

One is a house guest with a plan to make plenty of money. He meets some guy who has a shady deal that would add a little more money. Why risk a big score for a few extra pennies?

Due to the shady guy's connections, he would have known that the house guest's rich buddy would never fall for his low rent plan. So why did offer it?

The rich guy, after seeing who was brought to his house and how stupid the plan was, would have tossed the guest and his new friend right out. End of story.