a the title suggest there be a philosophical and meritocratic thread run through this film represent if a man have the talent and look to find his way into society and money what might be the outcome if he be deny it for fail to have the x factor . this question be unsatisfactorily dealt with in this adaptation of patricia highsmith book and leave me rather cold along the way . matt damon be the ripley of the title and apart from blagging his way on a funded jaunt to europe fall under the spell of his commissioned target and dickie greenleaf ( law ) . homoeroticism and social insecurity get all tangle up in a violent conflagration which escalate and complicate themselves for the rest of the movie . law and damon and the damningly pleasant paltrow a dickie girlfriend be ok. i like philip seymour hoffman cameo ish freddie mile and the bluff society friend that ripley can never be . the problem be that the story be lumpen without arc or redemption and for that matter which make it rather difficult to swallow . 4/10 .