Other mistake: Tom Ripley's ticket says first class in the limo, but when he boards, the rich girl says she saw his stuff in the third class stack. Dickie also says that he's a third class mooch, but according to his ticket he rode first class, so that'd make him a first class mooch, not third. His cabin is never shown. (00:07:20)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
1 other mistake
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Starring: Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jude Law, Philip Baker Hall
Continuity mistake: When Tom, as Dickie, rents a place in Rome, and after Tom kills Freddie, the police are all over him. Marge comes calling and Tom, as Dickie, asks the policeman to ask her to come back later, which leaves Tom alone with the detective. But as we see Marge creeping up the stairs, to see Dickie, suddenly, the policeman is with Tom and the detective, even though the policeman had left and Tom had closed the doors, so the policeman should not have been there.
Meredith: Dickie?
Tom Ripley: Hello Meredith.
Meredith: Oh my God! I hardly even recognized you.
Tom Ripley: Well, you spotted me so you get the reward.
Question: Maybe I missed a major plot point, but why exactly does Tom kill his lover at the very end?
Answer: He had to kill him. Tom couldn't kill Meredith because she wasn't alone and Peter was.
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Chosen answer: Tom & his lover are travelling on a boat. The rich girl, who knows Tom as Dickie is also on the boat. If they were to meet, Tom's false identity would have been revealed, and the lover would have been able to figure out that Tom actually murdered Dickie.
marfbody