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‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins

December 24, 2019 · The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) · Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1:30:41

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Casting What-Ifs

Amanda Dobbins▶ 34:34Emphasizes the remarkable casting chemistry needed between all five actors individually, noting they went five for five in finding people who became movie stars
Bill Simmons▶ 33:59Gretchen Mol — Discusses how director wanted final say over Tom Ripley casting and found the brightest young actors who weren't yet movie stars - mentions Cate Blanchett and Jude Law weren't stars when cast, and notes Gretchen Mol could have been cast instead of Gwyneth Paltrow but would have hurt the movie
Sean Fennessey▶ 35:09Gretchen Mol — Notes Jude Law had momentum from Gattaca and was in the 'gonna be a thing' stage of his career, and agrees that casting Gretchen Mol instead of Gwyneth Paltrow would have made a worse version of the movie

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 37:04Was this the year the anti-hero was officially born - citing Mr. Ripley, Tony Soprano, Fight Club's Tyler as the first three that launched the anti-hero era
Sean Fennessey▶ 37:23Disagreed that anti-heroes weren't done before, citing Dirty Harry and 70s versions as precedents

Most Rewatchable Scene

Amanda Dobbins▶ 41:52Tom sings jazz with Dickie for the first time - calls it irresistible and says it condenses all the movie's themes into two minutes
Bill Simmons▶ 38:44Tom hangs out with Dickie for the first time (forging signatures scene), Tom sings jazz with Dickie, Freddie enters the movie, Freddie making fun of Tom at breakfast leading to the boat murder
Sean Fennessey▶ 40:19Opening credits sequence (Saul Bass style), the chess scene with Dickie in the bathtub, and agrees with the jazz singing scene

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:09The last 45 minutes of the movie being a little slow and could have cut 10 minutes, plus Sylvana's confusing death scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:01:46Agreed about Sylvana's death scene being confusing and hard to understand what they were going for

Dion Waiters Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:06:11Philip Seymour Hoffman — Supports Freddie Miles as the pick and discusses changing award name
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:06:22Philip Seymour Hoffman — Hoffman's character

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:07:22Jude Law — Jude Law - absolutely his apex mountain, coming out of this movie with James Bond speculation and peak career options
Bill Simmons▶ 1:06:32Gwyneth Paltrow — Gwyneth Paltrow - as an actor, this is her apex mountain coming off Oscar win with six commercial movies in two years and maximum power
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:08:32Jude Law — Agrees on Jude Law and discusses Anthony Minghella as potentially his apex mountain, though acknowledges The English Patient was also a major triumph

Joey Pants Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:09:58James Rebhorn — James Rebhorn - agrees and mentions he's the dad on Homeland
Bill Simmons▶ 1:09:27James Rebhorn — James Rebhorn (the guy who plays Dickie's dad)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:46James Rebhorn — James Rebhorn - agrees and lists his filmography including My Cousin Vinny, Basic Instinct, Carlito's Way

Overacting Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:15Everyone in the Sylvana death scene

Half-Assed Internet Research

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:12:52Explained Hadrian built a wall, was Roman emperor with a gay lover; confused Jack Davenport with Robert Sean Leonard from Dead Poets Society
Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:27Matt Damon lost 30 pounds, learned piano, ran 6 miles daily, wore makeup to look pale; Jude Law learned saxophone and gained weight; broke a rib filming the boat scene; Tommy Wiseau was inspired by this film to make The Room; Tom kills Freddy with a bust of Emperor Hadrian
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:12:21The Room IMDb trivia connection is incredible; compared The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Room as similar stories about sociopaths

Picking Nits

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:16:37Wouldn't newspapers have actual photographs of Dickie Greenleaf since he's famous, the son of a shipping heir, and there would be Princeton yearbook photos?
Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:57Questions the logistics of Tom's situation on the boat with witnesses and suggests alternative solutions like throwing Cate Blanchett overboard
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:15:35How does Tom get off the boat after killing Peter and dispose of the body without being caught during manifest checks?

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:40Multiple quotes: 'I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody', 'No matter what you do, no matter how awful, no one ever thinks they're a bad person', and 'Why is it when men play, they always play at killing each other'

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:29:07Jude Law
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:29:10Jude Law

Movies Referenced (49)

Good Will Hunting (1997)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey▶ 3:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fight Club (1999)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 13:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Almost Famous (2000)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 29:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dirty Harry (1971)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 37:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Magnolia (1999)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 29:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Basic Instinct (1992)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Boogie Nights (1997)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 53:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cold Mountain (2003)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 29:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dogma (1999)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 10:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Enemy of the State (1998)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 40:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Forrest Gump (1994)

2 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:28:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gattaca (1997)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 35:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (4)

Clint Eastwood

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Unforgiven▶ 1:13:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mike Nichols

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Graduate▶ 11:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ben Affleck

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Argo, Gone Girl, The Town▶ 6:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wes Anderson

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Royal Tenenbaums, Isle of Dogs▶ 23:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (40)

Matt Damon

31 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Good Will Hunting, The Martian, The Departed▶ 3:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gwyneth Paltrow

27 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors▶ 2:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jude Law

26 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Grand Budapest Hotel▶ 3:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Philip Seymour Hoffman

17 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 3:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cate Blanchett

16 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey · Known for Blue Jasmine▶ 3:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joyce Greenleaf

6 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 1:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Philip Baker Hall

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Hard Eight▶ 52:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jack Black

4 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Bill Simmons · Known for High Fidelity, School of Rock, Nacho Libre▶ 1:14:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jack Davenport

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Talented Mr. Ripley▶ 1:13:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jennifer Aniston

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for We're the Millers▶ 7:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Phil Baker

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 52:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Sean Leonard

3 mentions · Amanda Dobbins · Known for Dead Poets Society, The Age of Innocence▶ 1:14:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (3)

Patricia Highsmith

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Talented Mr. Ripley, Strangers on a Train, Deep Water▶ 7:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Anthony Minghella

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, The English Patient▶ 13:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 35:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗