History Film / TheTalentedMrRipley

* AdaptationalHeroism: Tom Ripley commits two of the same murders as he does in the book, but he is presented as much more emotional and caring, with his [[TheSociopath sociopathy]] significantly toned down. As a particular example, Ripley in the books is introduced pretending to be an official with the electric company/other creditor organizations, and calls random people up to pressure them about (nonexistent) bills, partly so he can support himself on their money and [[ForTheEvulz partly for his own amusement]]. In contrast, Ripley in the film works as a waiter and engages in relatively innocent deceptions in which he lies about his background. He also benefits from the fact that Dickie, his first victim, gets a considerable dose of AdaptationalVillainy, going from an UpperClassTwit in the book to a caddish borderline sociopath in the film. Also, in this movie his murder of Dickie comes in a fit of rage, while in the book he plans it out in advance. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Tom also murders Peter Smith-Kingsley, who survived the novel]].

* BrokenAce: The cruel irony of the film is that Tom really ''is'' a very talented guy. He's intelligent, charismatic and driven, and (as Phillip proves) perfectly capable of finding someone who loves him for himself. Unfortunately his low self-esteem, stemming from class insecurity and internalised homophobia, prevent him from realising this until it's too late.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The scene where Marge confronts Tom about [[spoiler: him having Dickie's rings]] plays out differently than in the novel, and leaves a dangling thread that the book ties up. [[spoiler: In the novel, Marge is saved from being murdered by Tom when she concludes that Dickie must have actually committed suicide if he gave away his rings, and her suspicions of Tom are assuaged. In the film, she has no such revelation, tells Tom to his face that she knows he's lying, and is only saved by the timely arrival of Peter Smith-Kingsley. She goes on believing (correctly, one might add) that Tom killed Dickie for the rest of the movie, whereas the book's Ripley truly gets away scot-free with no one the wiser]].

Creator/CateBlanchett appears as Meredith, a society lady that Tom strikes up a casual friendship with before he goes to Europe. Compare this film to ''Film/PurpleNoon'', a 1960 French adaptation of the same book, with Creator/AlainDelon as Tom Ripley.