The Ghost Writer (2010)

Writing memoirs is not always a popular activity for all the people that have the potential of being mentioned therein, especially when they have something to hide. If it is a high-end politician like a British Ex-premier, who is writing the memoirs, then even state secrets may be at risk and for a potential ghostwriter involved the whole matter may become a dangerous thing when trying to bind together the loose end of the notes.How dangerous we get to know as the movie slowly evolves into a political thriller about war crimes. Soon it becomes obvious that the first ghostwriter did not die accidentally and that his successor better should not have accepted the financially highly attractive offer to finish off the work of his predecessor. The new ghost, played by Ewan McGregor, however is not easy to alarm but in some ways he is acting a bit naive, too naive as it turns out in the very end. Has he in the end be blinded by the fact that the real enemy is the person he has slept with? This naivety may be one of the weak points of the movie but I see it as a means to make the story work. If you compare this to the invulnerability of many other film protagonists I rather go with this attitude. According to me, the lack of such rather unrealistic action scenes is a strength of the movie and the suspense, which the film definitely has, comes more from a Hitchcock-like atmosphere of distrustful and mysterious behaviour. This atmosphere is well supported by the almost clinical interior of the beach house, where the new Ghost is being sent to and the grey skies that prevail in the movie. Moreover, director and Grandmaster Polanski does not forget to underlay the suspense at certain points with a subtle sense of humour.Overall a clear recommendation for all those that can still appreciate a movie only for its good story telling.

I have never written a review before but after spending 30 mins flabbergasted reading reviews for this thing and only finding 1 review that had the same question as me i had to... how in the hell are people reviewing this movie so overwhelmingly positive? Not just like "good movie" - which it was definitely not - but things like "one for the ages" "perfect movie" "hooked from start to finish"...... HUH? Is this like a practice joke? Like some Internet troll where hundreds of people decided to spoof review just to F with strangers? I understand with some movies how people can like them and I have a different opinion. I can see reasons for them liking said movie and I can understand why we disagree. But I am absolutely stunned by the reviews here... some of the shots are pretty I suppose. in a dreary, dark, colorless, monotonous way.. but beyond that I saw nothing thrilling, suspenseful, entertaining. I saw no reason to care about any of the characters or what happens to them. And the ending? Is that supposed to be some shocking twist? It's crazy cuz I read critic reviews on rotten too and it was the same thing. Roger ebert or whatever 4 out of 4. Huh? I don't know.. I pride myself in life in being able to figure things out that confuse me.. having an understanding on why a thing is a certain way even if I don't see it that way.. this is something that I'm not going to be able to solve. How this movie earned such incredible reviews is the single greatest mystery of my life.

So the bad thing about this movie, is that the surprise at the end, or the solution of the mystery, isn't that surprising after all. I mean it's not like I trusted any of the characters/politicians in this movie (or in real life either). So when Ruth turns out to be a CIA agent and kills her husband(I guess) and the ghostwriter, it's not even unexpected. I really hated the cold decor, London was the only beautiful place shown in the movie. The actors played their roles very well, but of course the ghostwriter kept making all the bad decisions knowing he wasn't backed by anyone/anything powerful, I just wonder how he had the guts to keep chasing the bad guys, and why did he keep threatening them. That was so stupid and of course would lead to his eventual and most certain death.

A ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) and uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.Well directed and very well acted by everyone, the film moves at a steady pace towards the surprising conclusion (I did guess the twist) Pierce Brosnan, one of the most under rated actors in my opinion and the best James Bond there has ever been, plays his part very well and although there are clearly parallels to Tony Blair, he never tries to mimic him or anyone else.Ewan McGregor is as good as he always is (does that guy ever age?) although I did find his attempt at an English accent odd, much worse than Kim Cattrall's.Olivia Williams is very good as the wife with a secret past, but the bedroom scene with McGregor didn't seem to fit in with her character.Good to see Eli Wallach in what must was one of his last films, I believe he only made two more after this one.Over all a good thriller and well worth a watch.