Ripley Under Ground

I was pleasantly surprised by the comedy and the ending actually made me smile. Barry Pepper as always delivered a great performance and is hot is in this movie. I felt bad rooting for Tom Ripley even though I know he's very naughty. He had a nice chemistry with Jacinda Barrett. Their tender scenes made me giddy. Alan Cumming and Claire Forlani were so amusing, Tom Wilkinson and Wilhelm Dafoe were very effective in their roles. This movie should have been given better publicity and distribution. Such a shame that it did not get the attention it deserved.

I highly recommend it. It kept me in suspense until the last second, beautifully done!!! Ripley was on fire in this movie, and definitely 100% heterosexual, hahaha. After over 10 years of thinking it'd seen all the Ripley movies, this week i got to see one more!! What a treat!!! :-D The movie is almost a dark comedy, and i love that about it, even though it still has many serious moments as well. Definitely watch this one before "Ripley's Game" as it ties in perfectly with how that movie begins. Wow, what a ride!!! :-D

This movie has all the ingredients to be a compelling movie. It has a great cast, good director, and the co-writer of The Bourne Identity. However, the movie doesn't explore it's themes and characters enough. It doesn't make full use of its interesting premise. The whole thing wasn't utilized. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) was a fascinating thriller/drama with a fascinating performance from Matt Damon and many compelling themes. Tom Ripley is a complex character and his books/films need depth. However, if you are able to get over that, this film is entertaining. Just don't expect anything great.

Filmed back in 2004, but left on the shelf for 3 years, 'Ripley Under Ground' aka 'White On White' has been released on DVD in Europe.

Barry Pepper plays Ripley as something of a low-key rock-star - long hair, a close shave and charisma to burn – and the tone of the thing is far lighter than any of the previous incarnations - 'Purple Noon' ,'The American Friend', 'The Talented Mr. Ripley', 'Ripley's Game', etc.

Some early reviewers have referred to it as a 'comedy', but it's not, really. Unfortunately, the lighter tone actually hurts the film a bit, because this outing paints Mr. Ripley as less of a menace and sociopath than any of the Ripley films that have preceded it.

This interpretation apparently sprang from a comment that Ms. Highsmith made about the films adapted of her novels: She apparently felt that the films missed the humor of her character and the droll wit of her dark plots. But the humor in this effort tends to undermines the suspense.

Beside having freed Mr. Pepper from the short-haired grunt roles that he usually plays, the film really allows Alan Cumming and Claire Forlani to shine in ways that they usually aren't allowed to when they are shoe-horned into American accents. She is officially excused from having participated in 'Meet Joe Black'.

It's a good, but not great film. The delight was seeing Barry Pepper stretch-out in the kind of role he's seldom given.

I typically enjoy the Ripley films and novels for their psychopathy, but this was different enough to be enjoyable. If you come across it on cable or the Shanghai bootleg carrels try not to overlook it.

*** out of *****

I was able to see a screening of White on White (which was called Ripley's Art) and was greatly surprised. Going into the film, I was thinking that it would be a very dark, serious film. However, the film is nothing like the first. This is much more of a dark comedy with some mystery aspects. If you liked the first film because it was so dark, then you probably will not like this film. Good performances from all the actors, but some of the lines were a little corny.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but many of the people at the screening said they did not enjoy it.