Ripley's Game (film) - Plot

Plot

Tom Ripley is living in Veneto and is involved in an art scam in Berlin, partnered with Reeves, a thuggish British gangster whom he orders to remain out on the street as the deal takes place. A violent argument breaks out in which Ripley kills one of his "customers." He gives the money to Reeves but takes the artwork for himself, curtly informing Reeves that their partnership is over.

Three years later, Ripley is extremely wealthy, living in a lush Venetian villa with his wife Luisa, a beautiful harpsichordist. One day, a neighbor invites him to a party, and has a pleasant time until he overhears the host, Jonathan Trevanny, insulting his taste and making a guarded reference to his questionable past. Ripley briefly confronts him, then sullenly leaves the party. Reeves resurfaces, much to Ripley's annoyance, asking him to eliminate a rival mobster. Remembering the slight, Ripley recommends that an amateur do it – Trevanny, a law-abiding art framer who is dying of leukemia. Reeves offers a bewildered Trevanny the job, which he turns down. He is tempted by the money, however, which he could leave to his wife, Sarah, and son, Matthew, upon his death. He eventually goes through with the job, a hit in Berlin, which he assumes will be a one-time-only assignment. Reeves has other ideas, however; he blackmails Trevanny into taking on another assassination, this time a complicated one on a train.

Trevanny panics and freezes up on the train, but Ripley intervenes in the nick of time. After the two of them dispatch three hoodlums in the toilet, Trevanny forms an uneasy friendship with Ripley and returns home. He then vainly attempts to persuade Sarah that the money he suddenly possesses is the result of gambling wins in Berlin. The victims' associates come to Italy seeking revenge; they storm the villa and kill Reeves, leaving his body in the boot of their car. Ripley has set traps for them, however, and terminates each, with Trevanny's increasingly eager assistance.

Trevanny comes home to find two more thugs holding his wife captive. Ripley spots the killers' car outside in the bushes and doubles back in time to save the day, but in the end Trevanny sacrifices himself to save Ripley from a wounded assassin. Genuinely puzzled by Trevanny's selflessness, Ripley tries to give Sarah her husband's share of the blood money, but she only spits in his face in reply. That night, Ripley attends Luisa's concert as if nothing has happened, but smiles briefly at the memory of Trevanny's bravery.