THE STORY – A young man travels from New York to Switzerland to try to persuade acclaimed thriller writer Patricia Highsmith to write one final installment of her Tom Ripley series, with his efforts gradually turning more sinister.
THE CAST – Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Cooke & Juliet Stevenson
THE TEAM – Anton Corbijn (Director) & Joanna Murray-Smith (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 106 Minutes
Despite being a born-and-bred American, novelist Patricia Highsmith spent more than half of her life living abroad. After moving to England in 1963 and France in 1967, she finally settled in Switzerland in 1982, where she lived until her death from aplastic anemia and lung cancer in 1995. It is in the last year of her life that Jonanna Murray-Smith sets her play “Switzerland,” which she has now adapted into a film directed by Anton Corbijn, starring Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren as the irascible author. A terrifically twisty, deliciously bitchy potboiler that has fun mucking about in Highsmith’s sandbox, “A Talent For Murder” delivers high-minded literary hijinks in a slick thriller package that takes the audience on one hell of ride.
Having not received any new material from Highsmith in years, her New York publisher has sent one of their young employees, Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich), to her bungalow in the Swiss Alps to get her to commit to a new novel starring her most famous creation, the charming con artist Tom Ripley. The abrasive author isn’t having it, though, and refuses to sign. Unless, that is, her visitor helps her write the perfect murder for it. A chance encounter with another young American on the train (Olivia Cooke), on her way to visit a wealthy older family member to get some of her inheritance early, gives Edward some ideas, which Highsmith eagerly incorporates into their narrative, which we watch play out as they conceive it. But even as they write together, Highsmith would much rather terrorize the poor boy, sending him to get beers that just so happen to be in the refrigerator next to her poison collection, lovingly showing off her vintage daggers, etc. Before long, Edward starts becoming bolder, and the line between real and fantasy starts to blur, begging the question: Who exactly is this man, and what does he really want?
While it wouldn’t be sporting to spoil the film’s ultimate reveal, it’s not a spoiler at all to say that Ehrenreich delivers a dynamite dual performance. Playing both the eager young upstart and the protagonist of the novel Edward and Patricia start to outline, he shows the full range of his abilities. As the mild-mannered Edward, he moves cautiously, jumping in fright whenever the puckish Highsmith pops up out of nowhere for a jump scare. As the Ripley avatar, though, he moves with the polish and muscular confidence of James Bond, dialing up both the charm and the cockiness to 11. Making liberal use of that sly sideways smirk, Ehrenreich keeps blurring the lines between Real Edward and Novel Edward until the only way to tell them apart is the fact that one wears glasses and the other doesn’t. Or do they?
Corbijn delights in screwing with the audience’s heads almost as much as Highsmith enjoys screwing with Edward’s. Robbie Ryan’s sleek cinematography looks far better than it has to, with the inky black shadows of the real world standing in sharp contrast to the warmer hues of the world of the novel, which at times recalls the look of Anthony Minghella’s beloved adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” despite taking place in the mountains of Switzerland instead of sunny Italy. Corbijn and Ryan never get too inventive with the camera, preferring to let the deliciously devilish dialogue and tight plotting do most of the work of exciting the audience, although they do have some fun fake-outs and jump scares to get the adrenaline pumping.
Mirren’s bitterly bitchy Highsmith lords over the film, though, devouring the scenery without ever going over the top. The film opens with a long take of her staring down a typewriter like it’s her enemy, and that combative energy carries her through the entire film. Mirren is clearly having a blast, reveling in the nastiness of the character’s speech and behavior. Whether stomping around her stylish house in trousers and work boots, cradling her antique weapons like children, or prodding Edward until she provokes a reaction, Mirren bulldozes her way through the movie, flattening everything that comes across her path except for Ehrenreich, with whom she shares a crackling chemistry. The more twisted their relationship becomes, the more it becomes clear that Highsmith is hiding something, and needs Edward far more than she lets on. The kernel of vulnerability Mirren exposes in Highsmith’s heart gives the film’s last act a surprising shot of heart amidst all the twisty theatrics, adding the one thing the rest of the film was missing. Had this been a more consistent throughline, the film could have become something more than just a tricksy little potboiler, although it certainly doesn’t need to. With a cast firing on all cylinders and a script that’s full of surface-level diva dramatics without skimping on the emotional drama underneath, “A Talent for Murder” may not be great, but it sure is great fun.
