A potentially good idea gets completely let down by a weak script which throws all credibility out the window leaving the actors very little to work with. Roth covers it up as best he can by being all mouth; Hurt has about as much menace as a fluffy bunny and Stamp can't seem to decide whether he's playing an ex-London crook or some toff straight off the playing fields at Eton. As for poor Laura del Sol she does what she can but her character is no more than every northern European's idea of the stereotypical Latino woman who's all pouts and hot temperament. If you're a fan of any of the main actors don't disappoint yourself or fool yourself (as I suspect many of the other reviewer's here have done). Watch it by all means but stay critical; you know these guys can do better.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Ripley's Game
(2002)
Not the version for me
6 April 2005
Although this movie is watchable to the extent that the cinematography is excellent and a first time viewer probably wants to watch it all the way through just to see the outcome of the plot, it is not a patch on Wim Wenders' 1977 adaptation of the same novel, "Der Amerikanische Freund" (the American Friend).
Cavani fails to explore the moral dilemma inherent in the story, the deceit on all sides and how, despite this, friendships can still be formed.
Watch this by all means but then take a look at the Wenders' version to see how it should really be done.
Cavani fails to explore the moral dilemma inherent in the story, the deceit on all sides and how, despite this, friendships can still be formed.
Watch this by all means but then take a look at the Wenders' version to see how it should really be done.
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