Beautifully photographed. I watched and watched but only for the same reason I'd sit through a travel documentary. Unfortunately, the cinematography is the best this production could offer. If not for the earlier and far better adaptation of the Highsmith book, I might have actually liked this series. I don't think it's a casting issue - how could it be with such a brilliant ensemble?, but more an acting direction issue. Andrew Scott (I am a fan, believe me) eventually grew tiresome in his intensity. The range of emotion he is well equipped to convey (fear, tension, delusional, frustration, anger, hopefulness,....) got spun to endless repetition in the series. And ultimately in expressing such range, he forgot to be likeable (or at least a character that drew curious interest in his awkwardness) the way Matt Damon managed to do in the 1999 film. That Marge and Dickie take Damon's Ripley in their circle as a friend was thus believable. This was not the case in this 2024 series. Andrew Scott was too sinister and strange throughout that it made no sense for him to have struck a friendship Marge and Dickie (or anyone for that matter) at all. The sexual tension and attraction between Matt Damon and Jude Law (and Gwyneth Paltrow) was also sadly lost. And the levity and flirtatiousness in Gwyneth's portrayal of Marge was replaced by the more sombre and resultingly boring Dakota Fanning. Well acted overall - the actors did their job, but the director took the characters where they should not have gone. So unexpected that acting direction would be the flaw of this series, given the strong cast.
