Having read and enjoyed four of Patricia Highsmith's five Ripley novels, I don't at all agree the book is better than the movie. Ripley in the novel is completely unbelievable -- he's an entertaining but totally artificial creation, concocted from the author's desire to make a philosophical point. Ripley in the movie is very believable. The film has depth because the characters, like real people, have feelings. The film is too long, but the cuts should have been made in the first half, not the second as most people seem to think. After the aridity of The English Patient, Minghella is back to the deep probing of the heart he showed in Madly, Truly, Deeply.