DVD ROUNDUP
RIPLEY'S GAME (2002)

Surprisingly, this adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel (which has a previous incarnation in 1977's The American Friend with Dennis Hopper as genteel psychopath Tom Ripley) never received an American theatrical release, even after the relative success of Anthony Minghella's version of The Talented Mr. Ripley, which even garnered some Oscar nominations. As a fan of Highsmith's novels, I appreciated the languid Mediterranean atmosphere of Minghella's version and thought that Jude Law was perfectly cast as slumming rich boy Dickie Greenleaf. The film was undone by the casting of Matt Damon as Ripley. Even though the story concerns the "making" of the adult criminal, Damon was too rough, too unrefined, too American (yes, the character is a Yank, but he aspires to Old World refinement) to be convincing. The insertion of a homosexual subtext, too, was all wrong: Ripley wouldn't be above leading a man on to achieve his ends, but he's primarily in love with himself.

John Malkovich makes an excellent Ripley. His studied movements and theatrically nonaccented accent are perfect for a guy who's essentially a blank, able to transform himself into whatever he wants others to see. He delivers his lines with a touch of the dilettante, always talking down. There's a great sense of ennui in his delivery. "I don't think anyone will catch me," he says at one point, "because I don't think anyone's paying attention." When he kills, he invests the act with the same gusto that made him such an enjoyable baddie in films like Dangerous Liaisons and In the Line of Fire. And who else could pull off a jaunty black beret without looking like a sissified Frenchman?

After a brief prologue, we meet Ripley living la dolce vita in a luxurious Italian villa with a beautiful musician (Chiara Caselli). He's more or less retired from criminal exploits, until Reeves (the always magnetic Ray Winstone), a criminal associate from his past, appears at his door and attempts to enlist Ripley to get rid of his competition. Ripley wants no part of the job, but thanks to a chance occurrence, he tells Reeves he has idea for a suitable replacement. He's just been to a party thrown by his neighbor, Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), an expatriate Brit who's struggling to make ends meet as a frame maker. Trevanny, it turns out, is dying of cancer, and worried about how his wife and young child will get along after he's gone. At the party, Trevanny makes the mistake of insulting Ripley's taste in restoring the villa (nothing pisses Ripley off like someone acting superior, especially an Englishman), which sets the game into motion. Ripley, knowing that Trevanny is desperate, puts him in touch with Reeves. He also knows that Trevanny is essentially a good man, and will be destroyed by the guilt of his actions. The first hit goes off without a hitch, but Reeves knows he's got Trevanny on the line, and tries to use him to get rid of a Ukrainian mobster who's horning in on his territory. Ripley has a change of heart and decides to help the unfortunate Trevanny. As Highsmith's readers know, Ripley's kind of "help" is best avoided-- things don't go exactly as planned, leading to disastrous results.

The film is well directed by Lillia Cavalli (The Night Porter), who injects some hilarious moments of black comedy into the proceedings. It's beautifully photographed, with exterior shots bathed in a desaturated yellow light that seems to echo the opulence gone decadent of old Europe. There's even a catchy score by the Old Master himself, Ennio Morricone. It's not a perfect thriller--there is some clunkiness to the pacing, which slows to a trickle between flashes of action; the motives of Reeves and his antagonists are never explained. Nonetheless, it's involving and well acted, with Malkovich providing an irrepressible streak of fun to his character. Just like the characters in the film, you shouldn't like this guy, but you just can't help yourself.

Why, then, did this film never make it to the States, where it almost certainly would be well received by the art house crowd? Moviepoopshoot.com's Jeffrey Wells suggests that FineLine may have gotten cold feet after opening the film first in Europe to worse-than-expected box office; they may have decided to save the budget for prints and marketing and release the film direct-to-video. Unfortunate, because it deserved a better fate. It also deserves a better fate on DVD-the transfer is fine, but extras are limited to the trailer.

Film: 4 out of 5
Look/Sound: 4 out of 5
Extras: 0 out of 5


MELVIN GOES TO DINNER (2003)

The advent of Digital Video may be a boon for aspiring filmmakers with good, talky, low-budget scripts. Or it may open the door for every would-be Woody Allen who can afford a Sony Digicam. Judging from films like this one and Roger Dodger, there are some good scripts out there that might not otherwise get made. Melvin Goes to Dinner, a surprise hit at Sundance, was directed by comedian Bob Odenkirk, one of the folks behind HBO's hit series Mr. Show. Fans looking for that show's brand of raunchy, offbeat humor may be disappointed. Written by Michael Blieden (adapted from his play, "Phyro-Giants!"), the movie consists primarily of a dinner conversation between four thirtysomethings seemingly thrown together at random. Melvin (Blieden), has gone to meet an old friend, Joey (Matt Price who, through no fault of his own, is very reminiscent of Friends' Matthew Perry) for dinner. He arrives late and finds Joey has been joined by a friend from business school, Alex (Stephanie Courtney), who's in town for one day on business. Alex has bumped into a friend of hers, Sarah (Annabelle Gurwitch) and dragged her along. As the evening wears on, the conversation jumps from topic to topic, touching on such matters as religion, sex, ghosts, mental illness, and infidelity. The conversation progresses, and we become aware that each of the characters has been holding back a secret that causes us to reinterpret all the action that's come before.

The good: Blieden's script is quite funny and most of the conversations have the aura of authenticity. The acting is good all around, particularly Courtney and Gurwitch. Odenkirk has reassembled the cast of the original play, and it shows-the actors are all extremely comfortable with their characters. There are also nice cameos from Maura Tierney and Odenkirk's Mr. Show compatriots David Cross and Jack Black. The DV look of the film (as in Roger Dodger) adds a documentary feel to the film; we feel like we're spying on private moments, reality TV-style. Michael Penn's sparse score is perfect (I'm sorry that his career as a rock star flopped back in the day, but Penn seems to have found his true calling scoring films).

What doesn't work so well: it's adapted from a play, and it feels like it. Odenkirk has added some cinematic touches, mainly flashbacks, to flesh out the story; these work with varying degrees of effectiveness. Some genuinely add to the overall effect, but most seem inserted to make the thing look like a movie. The dialogue, while funny, occasionally seems stagey; big revelations aren't motivated or justified. Some viewers may have a problem with the fact that none of the characters are especially likeable-for me, that's not a problem. It makes them more empathetic for me (and maybe that's my problem).

Extras are not exhaustive, but there are a couple of good ones. Along with a commentary track from the cast and director, there's a couple of scenes from the original production of Phyro-Giants! and a bizarre yet hilarious mockumentary of the group's trip to the world's smallest film festival--the Frank Film Festival-hosted entirely within the house of a movie geek named (you guessed it) Frank. There's also a copy of the script in PDF format.

Film: 3.5 out of 5
Look/Sound: 3 out of 5
Extras: 4 out of 5