Here's every entry in The Talented Mr. Ripley movie series, ranked worst to best. Tom Ripley is the creation of author Patricia Highsmith and appeared in five novels (A.K.A. the Ripliad) between 1995 and 1991. Ripley's debut was The Talented Mr. Ripley, where the character-a psychopathic con artist with a taste for the finer things in life-is hired by a businessman to go to Italy to bring back his wayward son Dickie. Ripley ends up infatuated with Dickie and his lifestyle and decides he literally wants Dickie's life, which is when things take a murderous turn.
Like Hannibal Lecter or Donald Westlake's Parker, Tom Ripley is an amoral anti-hero who despite committing despicable acts, remains oddly likable. This is one reason the character has received five movie adaptations over the decades, with Andrew Scott (Sherlock) currently attached to play Ripley in a Showtime adaptation. Other big names have tackled the character over the years, from Alain Delon to John Malkovich to (perhaps most notably) Matt Damon.
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Each actor to take on the character has brought their own flair to the role, making the movies a bit hard to compare. One other thing to note is that every Tom Ripley film stands on its own with no official connection to one another. With that in mind, here are all five of The Talented Mr. Ripley movies, ranked from worst to best.
Based on Patricia Highsmith's second Ripley novel, Ripley Under Ground is the most obscure of the films, despite being the most recent. The story sees Ripley and his accomplices covering up the death of an acclaimed painter and having another artist produce similar works to cash in. Barry Pepper (of the 2019 horror movie Crawl) plays Ripley but despite being a great actor, the way the movie presents a more lighthearted take on the character feels off. It's not a very compelling thriller either, despite a cast that includes Willem Dafoe and Alan Cumming. It's the weakest screen outing for Tom Ripley, but worth a curio watch for fans.
While it arrived a few years after Matt Damon's The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley's Game isn't an official sequel. Based on the third novel, this entry cast John Malkovich (Con Air) as Ripley, who ropes a terminally ill neighbor into becoming a hitman for him. Malkovich is superb in the role and is backed by a solid cast, but while it's a decent thriller with an impactful ending, the story is a little too mechanical at times for its own good.
The first adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley (and one of few to predate Matt Damon's entry) made a star out of the very, very handsome Alain Delon. Delon plays Ripley in this sunkissed French thriller, who, like the novel, is hired to retrieve a wayward heir before deciding he wants his life instead. Delon is magnetic, though he's arguably a little too suave and dreamy for the character. Purple Noon is considered a classic now, though Highsmith was a tad mixed on it and disliked its "moral" ending.
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Wim Wenders' adaptation of Ripley's Game cast Dennis Hopper as Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as his prey. Hopper's take on Ripley is arguably the furthest from the character's depiction on the page - which Highsmith herself initially took issue with - but it's a fascinating, disturbing portrayal nonetheless. The movie is a stylish noir anchored by Apocalypse Now's Dennis Hopper and Ganz, and it has the psychological edge lacking in the 2002 adaptation.
Probably the most famous adaptation is 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley. The movie has a stellar cast, including Matt Damon as the title character, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett (Carol), and many more, and it fleshes out every aspect of Ripley. He can be charming but vulnerable, calculating but relatable. The movie also fleshes out the queer aspects of Ripley's fascination with Dickie that Purple Noon overlooked and ends on a more haunting note. Unlike Purple Noon, Ripley doesn't get caught, but his fate is arguably bleaker.
The version of The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Damon and Jude Law stands out as the best, but it does make some notable changes to Highsmith's book. One of these is the fact that, in the book, Tom and Dickie did already know each other before meeting in Italy, though they weren't close. (In the movie, Tom completely lies about having been to Princeton and knowing Dickie from there).
The movie also adds romances, characters, and certain convenient plot points that help move the story along, which is understandable given that films must be told more briefly than novels, and that The Talented Mr. Ripley is standalone, unlike the book. Finally, Damon's characterization of Tom Ripley himself, while compelling, is much more insecure and prone to panic than his book counterpart, who remains ever the smooth psychopath throughout. All of these changes helped make The Talented Mr. Ripley what it is, though: a classic and compelling thriller.