Bruno Ganz brings a humane warmth to this laconic neo-noir thriller as a terminally ill family man who breaks bad. The film's slow pace is punctuated by sequences which feel almost unbearably tense, and plain, naturalistically styled moments of violence. Dennis Hopper's notorious Mr. Ripley is cool, enigmatic, and charming.

Very good movie, i really liked it! Great story and acting. Wim Wenders is such a master of directing.

Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz) is dying of cancer. In order to provide for his wife and son, he is coerced by Tom Ripley (Dennis Hopper), a mysterious art dealer, and Raoul Minot (Gerard Blain), an equally mysterious criminal, to commit a murder in exchange for a large sum of money. What starts out as a pretty standard thriller quickly evolves into something more complex – a film about existential angst as Zimmerman comes to terms with the consequences of his actions and the long-term impact on all involved. Director Wim Wenders does an excellent job delving into Zimmerman's character and motivation, turning The American Friend into something quite different than expected. Despite the baffling and unlikely climax, it is a very satisfying thriller that asks as many questions as it does provide answers.

It's mostly in German and sometimes in English, so I need to switch/follow the subtitles... otherwise good film.

This is very much a European arty film - there is fairly little dialogue and it has some good cinematography. I liked the shots of the train with sunrise/sunset reflected on the outside carriages. There is a thoughtful side to it too and it'd be fair to say its a somewhat quirky film. It isn't tense or gripping but its watchable certainly. I'd say if your a fan of the directors work then its worth a watch yes - the final scene had a certain poignancy to it, I felt, though its not the kind of film likely to particularly appeal to everyone.

I am a big fan of both Patricia Highsmith and Wim Wenders - separately. Together, they don't mix. Wim Wenders proved himself to be capable of directorial genius with movies such as "Wings of Desire" and "Paris, Texas," but he was the wrong person to direct a movie based on one of Highsmith's Ripley novels. It's slow when it should be fast, fast when it should be slow, and all too often unclear regarding what's happening and what's motivating the characters. I recommend the book, instead.

The character of Tom Ripley has sort of evaporated from popular culture, at least in his original form as the subject of Patricia Highsmith's novels. Instead, we're left to piece together a collage of the character through a number of adaptations and lingering references, two of the most prominent of which are Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley and this Wim Wenders noir classic (Delon will have to sit in the corner, I haven't gotten to him yet); in the former, Ripley is a chillingly suave and sociopathic con artist with seemingly no level that he won't stoop to in his pursuit of easy living, while Hopper's take on the character is much more obtuse, mysterious, and humane, all of which contribute to the heady atmosphere of this noir homage. Exploring the influence of Hopper's Ripley over the protagonist (Ganz's Jonathan Zimmerman) and the role of American cinematic style in an international sense, Wenders takes bold steps to touch on the prevalence of an American moral and cultural presence on a world scale, for better or worse. Though predominantly set in Continental Europe, the language of choice for conversations between strangers tends to be English, and American rock music features prevalently in the soundtrack. The internal conflict of Ganz's character can best be described as an internal tug-of-war, between the immediate sanctuary of his quiet home life and loving wife (German-speaking, largely faithful, upright), pulling against an ambition to protect his family in the long-term, pulling him deeper into morally questionably grounds (the 'American influence' - quick money, no questions). However, Wenders injects a particular humanism and complexity that goes well beyond simple interpretations - Ripley is at once ridiculous, underhanded, and the instigator of the conflict that tears at Zimmerman, but ends up a true friend that cares for his well-being; Ripley sets up circumstances such that Zimmerman will be offered a position as a contract killer, but he doesn't force him to accept, Zimmerman alone made that choice. It's this strange combination of a dark view of human nature and a resilience of camraderie and love that Wenders alone seems to have been able to pull off so convincingly. Apart from the thematic depth, The American Friend is just a well-made understated thriller, full of well-composed imagery, great atmosphere, and tension in long, drawn-out scenes that you can cut with a knife. The assassinations are small-scale, intimate, and believable, and taken together with Ganz's conflicted and flustered depiction of his character, it's exceptionally well-made. Really tempted to rate this one higher, actually. (4/5)

Nowadays I don't really enjoy violent films but this was OK as a film. It was quiet. I quite liked that it was actually just an honest drama film - no over the top special effects or wild action, weird twists or plot gimmicks. It had a solid plot with just enough complexity to keep it interesting, the characters were not marvels but had some solidity, depth and believability (the men anyway, the women might as well have been postcards). It was a very masculine film which I appreciated. It definitely reminded me of the Conversation too in these ways, also how the tension built up throughout the film. At the ending thinking back to the start with the art auction - it is like another world. I did find the film a little over-long but that may just be my mood. I also wondered about the ending I guess even if he didn't know he was going to die right then he knew he was going to die soon and the way he laughed as he drove away, suppose he just didn't care any more and was helping his wife.

Absolutely loved this film. Dennis hopper has a quiet and funny malice in this.

A slow burn, hard to absorb thriller. The film in essence is about America's colonialism on Germany, enhanced with its stylish camera skills and cinematography, great acting and a chilling yet evocative orchestra score. The film has a perceptive story plot and theme, but the mundaneness, lack of dialogue and the over lengthy time spent on panning all across the city made it hard to appreciate the brilliance of the film.

Wim Wenders' have done some amazing films and this one felt very promising with a cool plot and some very skilled actors. Jonathan (Bruno Ganz) is a picture frame worker. He is kind and gentle but have some business with people that are into art crime and that leads him into a world of being a hitman. He is in need of money as he has a blood disease and could have some extra cash for surgery. The film is done in a rather slow tempo. Nice music (I actually sampled the intro score for beats) and it looks very solid. I never gave it too much interest the first 30 minutes or so, but I digested the story pretty well. It's shot in New York, Paris and Hamburg so we do have a bit of travel to do here. Not that many stand out scenes, but straight forward movement and solid actors supported by a pleasant script makes it very watchable. This is mostly about character study. I could have hoped for some more entertainment at times but it works just fine the way it is. Not Wim's best, and thrillers is not his biggest line of style, but it's definitely not his worst either. This one kind of just dropped on me so I guess it's not his most famous work even if it premiered at Cannes back in 1977. 7 out of 10 frames.

It's cool and freewheeling in that 70s kind of way. It must have been a real hoot for everyone involved in the making of it, but the overall effect for me was a small shrug of the shoulders. Giving cameos to great filmmakers does make a film itself great. It gained a half star for featuring Dennis Hopper in a cowboy hat and then having him comment on it.

A perfect example of one artist (Wim Wenders) taking on the influence of another (Patricia Highsmith) and using it as a vehicle to express his own thoughts, ideas and influences (Bruno Ganz singing the Kinks?). Beautifully shot using Robby Muller's fantastic cinematography, the story may appear standard or strange to some. But to others, this is one of those unique cinematic experiences that gets better with each viewing.

Framing. Art forgery. Gangsters. Mafia. Yes, this movie has it all, folks. Jonathon Zimmerman frames fine art for a living and is dying. Tom Ripley sells art forgeries for a living. Tom frames Jonathon to commit a murder for the gangster Minot for indeterminate reasons. One one murder turns into two murders, giving Tom regrets for indeterminate reasons. Lots of framing going on here. Johnny C sez check it out and if you figure out what the gangsters are really up to, let him know.

Wanted to like this, kinda liked it, but the psychological drivers behind the main characters start to fall apart and the film starts to suffer from what plagues mediocre crime films - an increasingly abstract and hard to follow plot. Towards the end I didn’t understand what was driving the characters and quite frankly stopped caring. Very cool imagery and a couple great sequences, but this film just doesn’t reward on all cylinders.

its about a dying man who becomes a hired killer, weird how the movie is 1/2 in german

A slow development that has a some intricate filming and staging that was truly artistic. 1001 movies to see before you die.

Solid but standard thriller.

Wim Wenders creates an excellent film based on Patricia Highsmith's "Ripley's Game." Dennis Hopper plays Tom Ripley here and is quite good, but the film belongs to Bruno Ganz who is in one of my all-time favourite films "Wings of Desire", also directed by Wenders. This thriller is more about atmosphere than story, but that's okay as Wenders pulls it off. I was engaged throughout, even if at times I didn't fully understand what was happening. Definitely worth checking out!

An excellent thriller with mesmerizing performances from Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz.