Sun-swept adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel "Monsieur Ripley" involves two French playboys in Rome--one a millionaire's son, the other a ne'er-do-well who worships money and the people who have it--who come to an impasse at sea, resulting in tragedy and an elaborate cover-up. Hitchcockian drama, a whirlpool of murder and deceit in exquisitely beautiful visual terms, has luscious color cinematography and locations. However, like Alfred Hitchcock, director René Clément is more interested in the How rather than the Why; the film doesn't run so much on emotion as it does on a rather far-fetched level of logic (though the final twist is really pressing things). The film's American counterpart, 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", played up the thriller aspects of Highsmith's story, while Clément is more interested in letting the scenes unfold through careful pacing and detail. It's often extraordinary--and, by the end, extraordinarily empty. **1/2 from ****
Review of Purple Noon
