Goofs for
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) More at IMDbPro »

• Continuity: In the opening long shot of the sailing scene, the boat's jib is clearly luffing on a port tack. Dickie is yelling at Tom to pull in the jib sheet, and the next shot shows Dickie helping Tom pull in the port jib sheet. If the boat were on a port tack, Tom should have been hauling on the starboard jib sheet.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The movie is set in the 1950s, but in one scene the cover of Miles Davis' LP "Tutu" can be seen (it's in Dickie's collection), which was only released in 1986.
  
  
• Continuity: When Meredith sees Tom in a store in front of the Spanish Steps, they take a walk, and come down the Spanish Steps, past the store he was just in, and turn left.
  
  

• Revealing mistakes: After the "other woman" floats ashore and is lying dead in the old woman's lap you see her spit water out after a wave goes over her face.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When they are all out to sea Marge comes out of the water and walks to Tom who sits alone on the boat. Water marks are visible on the deck showing evidence of a previous take.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Marge arrives in Venice at the Santa Lucia railways station you can spot in the background on the other side of the canal one of the very few modern buildings of Venice. It is obvious that this building was built much later than 1958 when the story is supposed to take place.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Modern construction cranes on the Venice skyline.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When the main characters go to the opera in Rome, the theater is the San Carlo in Naples.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When Tom and Dickie are in the boat on the sea of San Remo, the Isle of Capri, 800 kilometers distant, can be clearly seen at the horizon.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Tom sets his modern blue-covered U.S. passport on a desk. In the 1950s (when the film is set) American passports had green covers.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Dicky and Tom are riding down the country road on a scooter, you can see the shadow of the crew and camera on the rock wall.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When Ripley and Peter take the ship to Greece, the sun sets to the port side of the ship, indicating that the ship is traveling roughly northwards instead of eastwards as it should be if it's sailing from Italy to Greece.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Ripley's vocal microphone at the jazz club (highly uncharacteristic for the 1950s).
  
  
• Continuity: When Ripley and Dickie are playing chess, Dickie moves a pawn. A bit later, we see a close-up of the chess-board, where Dickie makes the same move again. In addition to Dickie making the same move twice, other pieces change position in different takes in the chessboard scene.
  
  
• Continuity: In addition to Dickie making the same move twice, other pieces change position in different takes in the chessboard scene.
  
  
• Continuity: When Marge attacks Tom on the pier, his arms go up to fend her off, then he finger-combs his hair, but in the very next shot his arms are straight at his sides.
  
  
• Continuity: Ripley sets the dates at the Café D. at the foot of the Spanish Steps to 10.15 (Meredith) and 10.30 (Marge and Peter). The clock shows 4.50 P.M. and the light is obviously a late afternoon sun.
  
  
• Continuity: When Freddie takes the tiller from Dickie, the position of his hand jumps between the front shot and the reverse shot.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Peter and Tom go to meet Marge (at 1:44), on the left of the screen when the glass door closes, you can see the reflection of a microphone and a camera.
  
  
• Anachronisms: When Ripley and MacCarron are on the balcony in Venice, a 1998 Car Ferrying Motorboat can be seen in the canal.
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Tom's first meeting with Marge and Dickie on the beach, Dickie tells Marge he doesn't remember Tom from earlier, and Marge mouths the word "funny", but nothing is heard.
  
  
• Anachronisms: During the opening scene in 1958 New York, the Sony Tower (formerly the AT&T Building), which was built in 1984, can been seen beyond the southern border of Central Park in several shots.
  
  
• Continuity: When Freddie and Dickie are talking on the boat, Freddie has a drink in his left hand, and stirs it nervously with his right. From the reverse angle, the drink is in his right hand and there is no stirring.
  
  

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