What starts as a white lie - Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) impersonating a Princeton graduate - escalates into full blown fraud, as Tom tricks the shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf into funding a holiday in Europe. Tom befriends Herbert's son Dickie (Jude Law) and his girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow) in Italy. As with most crime movies the first half is lighthearted and fun, and the latter half is depressing. Initially, Tom, Dickie and Marge enjoy each other's company on the beautiful island of Ischia - eating good food, sailing and listening to jazz. But over time Tom's lies begin to unravel and he resorts to killing people to avoid being found out.

Dickie is an interesting character study! With the attention span of a mole rat. When someone new enters his life he is fascinated, then gets bored and moves on.