Tom Ripley returns, but he's no longer the desperate and confused young psychopath of his early years, this Ripley is assured and cultured, a man who knows exactly who he is and what he aspires to. Unfortunately for Jonathan Trevanny, a local picture framer, Ripley overhears him voicing his contempt for his artistic taste, an innocent enough insult for most of us but acceptable reason for a dark psychological and ultimately murderous revenge for Ripley. Ripley's game is a smooth and sophisticated thriller though it lacks the pace and intensity of Patricia Highsmith's first adaptation, The Talented Mister Ripley.