Ripley Under Ground (film)
Ripley Under Ground (also known as White on White[2]) is a 2005 German-British-French crime thriller film directed by Roger Spottiswoode and based on the 1970 second novel in Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley series. It stars Barry Pepper as Ripley and features Willem Dafoe, Alan Cumming and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. Ripley Under Ground was produced during July and August 2003,[2] but was only released two years later. The film was shown on the 2005 AFI Fest by American Film Institute, receiving a low-profile wide theatrical release.
| Ripley Under Ground | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Roger Spottiswoode |
| Produced by | Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre Marco Mehlitz Michael Ohoven Stephen Ujlaki William Vince |
| Written by | W. Blake Herron Donald E. Westlake |
| Based on | Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith |
| Starring | Barry Pepper Jacinda Barrett Tom Wilkinson Willem Dafoe Alan Cumming Claire Forlani Ian Hart |
| Music by | Jeff Danna |
| Cinematography | Paul Sarossy |
| Edited by | Michel Arcand |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release date | 6 November 2005 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | Germany France United Kingdom[1] |
| Language | English |
Plot summary
After his friend, a successful young artist, is killed in a car accident, Tom Ripley (Pepper) and his friends hide his body and concoct a scheme in which they forge his paintings, eventually making a great deal of money. When an art collector (Dafoe) complains that a painting he bought from the gallery is a fake, Ripley must use his inimitable talents to defuse the problem by whatever means necessary.
Cast
- Barry Pepper as Tom Ripley
- Willem Dafoe as Neil Murchison
- Alan Cumming as Jeff Constant
- Tom Wilkinson as John Webster
- Jacinda Barrett as Héloïse Plisson
- Claire Forlani as Cynthia
- Ian Hart as Bernard Sayles
- Douglas Henshall as Philip Derwatt
- François Marthouret as Antoine Plisson
Release and reception
The film received a wide theatrical release on 6 November 2005,[3] as well as being shown at the AFI Fest film festival in Los Angeles. It was released on DVD on 24 July 2007 in the Netherlands.
Given the film's low-profile release,[4] critical reviews have been scarce. Variety's review was less than positive, saying: "Although it strives to push Patricia Highsmith's best-known bad man in a snarky direction, Ripley Under Ground is too fidgety and unsure to settle on a sustained tone and ends up in a no man's land between hysterical satire and sleek Euro thriller. As previous filmic Ripleys demonstrated, from Purple Noon and The American Friend to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ripley's Game, it's all in the casting, and the talented Mr. Barry Pepper is not capable of pulling off the demonically complicated and murderous con artist."[5]
References
- Buchanan, Jason. "Ripley Under Ground (2005)". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- "Manx Films, White on White (Ripley Under Ground)". Isle of Man Guide. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- "Ripley Under Ground". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- Li, John (21 August 2009). "Ripley Under Ground DVD 2005". movieXclusive.com. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
- Koehler, Robert (13 November 2005). "Ripley Under Ground Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie Ripley Under Ground". Variety.com. Retrieved 31 December 2010.