In "The Talented Mr. Ripley," the eponymous Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) delineates his talents as follows: "forging signatures,
telling lies, impersonating almost anyone." He tells this to Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), and then proceeds to prove it by doing an impression of Dickie's father -- who, by the way, has sent Tom to Italy to get the rich punk Dickie to come home and quit spending daddy's money. Possessing those particular skills is necessary for Tom, as we soon learn that he has no identity of his own. That is to say, what small things we know about him -- he works as a custodian at Princeton University, he plays classical piano, and Dickie's father sent him to Italy because he thought Tom was an old friend of Dick's -- don't add up to much.
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