The Ghost Writer Movie Review

MOVIE REVIEW: THE GHOST WRITER

2/28/10

SYNOPSIS: When a successful British ghostwriter, THE GHOST, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister ADAM LANG, his agent assures him it's the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start--not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang's long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident.

The Ghost flies out to work on the project, in the middle of winter, to an oceanfront house on an island off the U.S. Eastern seaboard. But the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA--a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, RUTH, and his personal assistant (and mistress), AMELIA. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA--and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost's predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?

Resonating with topical themes, this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller is a story of deceit and betrayal on every level-- sexual, political and literary. In a world in which nothing, and no one, is as it seems, The Ghost quickly discovers that the past can be deadly--and that history is decided by whoever stays alive to write it.

REVIEW: Politics and politicians are a world of power, lies, mystery, suspicions, and cover ups. Imagine you are a ghost writer from the real world and you have little interest in all things political and yet you’ve just been assigned to complete a memoirs book of a former British Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) who can’t seem to stay away from the limelight. What do you do? Our Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor) in this case takes the job because it will pay $250,000. I think that’s good motivation. Unfortunately for him, he almost immediately regrets his decision. When his subject is accused of war crimes, well the situation just went from bad to worse. He stumbles upon various clues and combined with his curiosity he uncovers something that was not meant to be uncovered and the plot thickens.

This movie was slow to develop in the beginning and thus it seemed long overall but the action and suspense kicked in nicely toward the end. The climax to the story was pretty good but the bang happens at the very end. I warn you, the movie ends quite abruptly. The storyline is interesting, unique, and current, but it was thinly laid out at certain moments. What saves those moments are the cast and the acting. Those are probably two of the best aspects of this film. This is a well assembled cast for this particular story. When you have such names as Brosnan, McGregor, Kim Cattrall, James Belushi, Olivia Williams, Timothy Hutton, and Tom Wilkinson, you can expect good things. Both McGregor and Brosnan in two of the major roles give their standard quality performances. The one that stood out the most for me was Olivia as Ruth Lang, the Prime Minister Adam Lang’s wife. She brought her “A” game to this show . . . sharp and cold. Kim seemed to have a problem with her accents because at some moments you could hear a British accent while others you didn’t. It was nice to see her in a different light outside of Sex and the City though. Another star that stood out with this project is Director Roman Polanski. Once again he does a fine directing job as evident by the quality of this production. Oh, and let’s not forget the amazing cinematography and filming locations. They very much added to the mood and effect of the film. If you’re in the mood for a suspense thriller, this is a decent choice, but only decent, not incredible.