''Ripley Under Ground'' 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 Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He played Private Daniel Jackson in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), Roger Maris in '' 61*'' (2001), Joseph L. Galloway ...

as Ripley and features Willem Dafoe,

Alan Cumming Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a British actor. His London stage appearances include ''Hamlet'', the Maniac in ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' (for which he received an Olivier Award), the lead in '' Bent'', The National Theatre o ...

, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles.

Plot summary

Tom Ripley's friend Philip Derwatt, a successful young artist, is killed in a car accident. Ripley, along with Jeff Constant, Derwatt's gallerist; Bernard Sayles, another artist; and Cynthia, Derwatt's girlfriend, concoct a scheme in which Bernard forges more of Derwatt's paintings, making a great deal of money. They hide Derwatt's body in a freezer. Ripley begins a relationship with Héloïse Plisson, who lives in a château near Paris, "Belle Ombre", with her father Antoine. Antoine investigates Ripley and disapproves of his shady past. Ripley gives Héloïse a tomato plant. An art collector, Neil Murchison, complains that a painting he bought by "Derwatt" is a fake. Ripley forges a letter by Derwatt, but Murchison is unconvinced. Murchison travels to Belle Ombre to visit Derwatt, who is impersonated by Ripley. However, Murchison recognises Ripley. They fight, Murchison falls, hits his head, and dies. His toupee falls off and is grabbed by Héloïse's dogs. Ripley buries Murchison's body, leaves his belongings on a train, and rushes to clean up the blood before Héloïse and her father return. A detective, John Webster, visits Belle Ombre. He obtains Ripley's fingerprints by subterfuge, in order to investigate him, but does not notice the dogs returning with the toupee, which Héloïse's disposes of. An increasingly unstable Bernard threatens to expose Ripley. Bernard tells Webster the location of Murchison's body, but Ripley has already moved it to underneath the tomato plant. Back in England, Bernard takes Webster to the cottage where Derwatt's body was kept in the freezer, but Ripley has already removed it to his car. Bernard abducts Ripley at gunpoint. Ripley crashes the car, then places Derwatt's body in the driver's seat and sets the car on fire. At Belle Ombre, Ripley and Héloïse are about to get married. Webster has the tomato plant dug up, searching for Murchison's body. Antoine's suspicions were aroused by Ripley's interest in gardening. However, Héloïse has already moved the body. At the wedding, Ripley gives Héloïse a ring he stole from Derwatt. Héloïse gives him a ring from Murchison's corpse. As they drive away to their honeymoon, Héloïse proposes murdering her father to inherit his estate.

Cast

as Tom Ripley * Willem Dafoe as Neil Murchison *

as Jeff Constant * Tom Wilkinson as John Webster * Jacinda Barrett as Héloïse Plisson *

Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born 17 December 1971) is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film ''Mallrats'', and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic, ''Basquiat''. In 1998, she achieved wide recog ...

as Cynthia * Ian Hart as Bernard Sayles * Douglas Henshall as Philip Derwatt *

François Marthouret François Marthouret (born 12 September 1943) is a French actor. Selected filmography Theater References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marthouret, Francois 1943 births Living people Male actors from Paris French male film actors ...

as Antoine Plisson

Release and reception

The film was produced under the working titles "White On White" and "Ripley's Art", but it was released as ''Ripley Under Ground''. It was produced during July and August 2003, but was not released until two years later. The film was shown on the 2005 AFI Fest by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

. The film received a low-profile wide theatrical release on 6 November 2005, 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. Box office figures are not available for the film. Critical reviews have been scarce, owing to the smaller release. '' 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." The film is the least well known Ripley adaptation.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripley Under Ground (Film) 2005 films 2005 crime thriller films American crime thriller films British crime thriller films English-language French films English-language German films Films directed by Roger Spottiswoode Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films based on works by Patricia Highsmith Films about fictional painters Films about art forgery Films about con artists Films set in England Films set in France Films scored by Jeff Danna French crime thriller films German crime thriller films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s British films 2000s French films 2000s German films