In 1999, Law was in The Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon. This was the perfect project to introduce Law to mainstream America as it was a great script, showed off his bod yet was a character which held true to some of the parts he had done earlier. Law maintained the fan base he had built and gained many new fans with this performance. The fact that there was a gay theme in Ripley never became a big deal as although the movie did well, it was not a monster hit, and the publicity surrounding it was generally positive.
The Problems Begin:
The next 5 years after Ripley were up and down for Law, his career and his fans. Law began to follow the Michael Caine pattern, doing movie after movie through the early 2000's through 2004. Some, like my personal favorite AI, were good, some, like Cold Mountain were critically well received, but many were simply lame (Alfie, Sky Captain) and Law’s career came to a screeching halt. Compounding his over exposure were a slew of personal drama’s involving his wife at the time and an affair with his children’s nanny. That combined with a relationship with Sienna Miller (who seems like a black plague on many male celebrities) took the bloom off what was once a promising future.