# Ripley's Game (film)
**Ripley's Game** (Italian: *Il gioco di Ripley*) is a 2002 crime thriller directed by Liliana Cavani, adapted from [Patricia Highsmith](https://www.edgepedia.org/patricia-highsmith)'s 1974 novel of the same name, with [John Malkovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-malkovich) as the amoral connoisseur-killer [Tom Ripley](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-ripley). It is the second screen adaptation of the novel, after Wim Wenders' *The American Friend* (1977), and the fourth feature film built on Highsmith's Ripley novels.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [2](https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymag/Patricia-Highsmith.pdf) • [3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Liliana Cavani; screenplay by Cavani and Charles McKeown, from Highsmith's novel[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) |
| Lead cast | John Malkovich (Tom Ripley), Dougray Scott (Jonathan Trevanny), Ray Winstone (Reeves), Lena Headey (Sarah Trevanny), Chiara Caselli (Luisa Ripley)[4](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2003/archive-1/ripleys-game/) |
| Technical credits | Cinematography Alfio Contini, music Ennio Morricone, editing Jon Harris; 35 mm color, 110 minutes[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) |
| Premiere | Out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, 2 September 2002[5](https://www.shotinberlin.de/en/catalog/film/2432/) |
| Release | Italy 7 February 2003; UK 30 May 2003; Spain 19 September 2003[6](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/1687/) |
| Budget and gross | Estimated $30,000,000 budget; $6,200,970 worldwide gross[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/) |
| Critical reception | 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (25 reviews); included in Roger Ebert's Great Movies series[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripleys_game) • [3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Tom Ripley has hidden his criminal past behind a respectable life as an art dealer in Italy, living with his girlfriend Luisa, a harpsichord player.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [9](https://stream-tracker.com/en/film/ripleys-game-2002) When his former associate Reeves ([Ray Winstone](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-winstone)) comes looking for a hit man, Ripley volunteers his neighbor Jonathan Trevanny, an English picture framer who has insulted Ripley's taste in public.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/ripley-s-game-107229.html) Trevanny is terminally ill and accepts the job with the promise of an appointment with a doctor who may cure him, leaving money for his wife Sarah and young son.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [9](https://stream-tracker.com/en/film/ripleys-game-2002) The arrangement draws both men into a series of murders and a war between competing mobs, ending dramatically.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [6](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/1687/)
## Production
The film is a British-Italian-American co-production by Baby Films, Cattleya, and Mr. Mudd, with Simon Bosanquet, Ileen Maisel, and Riccardo Tozzi producing and [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema) as sales agent.[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) • [6](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/1687/) It was shot on 35 mm with cinematography by Alfio Contini and a score by [Ennio Morricone](https://www.edgepedia.org/ennio-morricone).[1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) Substantial location shooting took place in Berlin, including the Gendarmenmarkt, the Aquarium, the Haus des Rundfunks, and the Theater des Westens, which stood in for a [Düsseldorf](https://www.edgepedia.org/dusseldorf) train station in the film's train sequence.[5](https://www.shotinberlin.de/en/catalog/film/2432/)
**A change of director mid-shoot.** According to IMDb, financial difficulties caused shooting delays, and Cavani had to leave the production before filming was completed because of a prior commitment to direct an opera at [La Scala](https://www.edgepedia.org/la-scala) in Milan; Malkovich took over and completed the film, directing around a third of the footage.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/)
## Release and reception
The film premiered out of competition at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) on 2 September 2002 and screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival the same year.[5](https://www.shotinberlin.de/en/catalog/film/2432/) • [1](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/) It received theatrical distribution across Europe in 2003, opening in Italy on 7 February, the UK on 30 May, and Spain on 19 September, among other territories.[6](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/1687/) In Spain it sold 201,400 tickets and grossed €980,253.32 under the title *El juego de Ripley*.[11](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=41103) Against an estimated $30 million budget, its worldwide gross was $6,200,970, with no domestic (US) theatrical release recorded.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/) • [12](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0265651/) Its American rights-holder declined to give it a US theatrical release, and it surfaced in the United States direct-to-video via Fine Line in 2004, a decision that became a minor cause célèbre among American critics.[13](https://sightlines.media/film/10955/ripley-s-game-2002)
Critical response was strong in aggregate: Rotten Tomatoes records 92% on the Tomatometer from 25 reviews and a 67% audience score, with a critics consensus citing Malkovich's "suitably slimy performance".[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripleys_game) Roger Ebert added the film to his Great Movies series in April 2006, writing that Ripley is "fascinating in the sense that a snake is fascinating" and quoting the character's line, "I don't worry about being caught because I don't believe anyone is watching."[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002) The New Zealand International Film Festival's 2003 notes quoted Kent Jones of *Film Comment*: "Malkovich was born to play Ripley... he connects with Ripley on such a profound level that every gesture feels exactly right."[4](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2003/archive-1/ripleys-game/) Some British reviewers were cooler: Time Out called the film an acting master class while noting Winstone's apparent disengagement and Scott's dourness,[14](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ripleys-game) and a Guardian review found it "enjoyable and ridiculous in a ratio of about one to three".[15](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/may/30/artsfeatures.dvdreviews) Reviewers also complained that the film relishes Malkovich's Ripley while giving little understanding of Scott's Trevanny, the ordinary man led into murder.[16](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jun/07/featuresreviews.guardianreview6)
## Place among the Ripley adaptations
Highsmith wrote five Ripley novels between 1955 and 1991, and *Ripley's Game* (1974), the third, has been filmed twice: Wenders' *The American Friend* (1977) with [Dennis Hopper](https://www.edgepedia.org/dennis-hopper), and Cavani's 2002 version with Malkovich.[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002) • [2](https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymag/Patricia-Highsmith.pdf) The Film Noir Foundation's survey describes Cavani's version as a more straightforward adaptation than Wenders', with "John Malkovich at his sinister best as Ripley".[2](https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymag/Patricia-Highsmith.pdf) Ebert's essay places the film in the sequence of Ripley pictures in which the character was played successively by [Alain Delon](https://www.edgepedia.org/alain-delon), Dennis Hopper, Matt Damon, John Malkovich, and [Barry Pepper](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-pepper).[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002) In this film Ripley is older than in the earlier adaptations, several undetected murders on from the version of the character in *The Talented Mr. Ripley*, savoring the life of a landed aristocrat in Italy's Veneto region.[4](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2003/archive-1/ripleys-game/)
## References
1. [Ripley's game (2002), Liliana Cavani official site](https://www.lilianacavani.it/en/productions/movies/ripleys-game-2002/)
2. [Everyone Is Guilty: The Films of Patricia Highsmith, Film Noir Foundation](https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/noircitymag/Patricia-Highsmith.pdf)
3. [The fascinating Mr. Ripley, RogerEbert.com, April 9, 2006](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ripleys-game-2002)
4. [Ripley's Game, New Zealand International Film Festival 2003](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2003/archive-1/ripleys-game/)
5. [Ripley's Game, Shot in Berlin](https://www.shotinberlin.de/en/catalog/film/2432/)
6. [Ripley's Game, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/1687/)
7. [Ripley's Game (2002), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/)
8. [Ripley's Game, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripleys_game)
9. [Ripley's Game (2002), Stream Tracker](https://stream-tracker.com/en/film/ripleys-game-2002)
10. [Ripley's Game review, The Independent, May 31, 2003](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/ripley-s-game-107229.html)
11. [El juego de Ripley, ICAA film catalog, Spain](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=41103)
12. [Ripley's Game, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0265651/)
13. [Ripley's Game (2002), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/10955/ripley-s-game-2002)
14. [Ripley's Game review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ripleys-game)
15. [Ripley's Game DVD review, The Guardian, May 30, 2003](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/may/30/artsfeatures.dvdreviews)
16. [In two minds, The Guardian, June 7, 2003](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jun/07/featuresreviews.guardianreview6)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2000–2004 films › Released 2000 to 2002*
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