The Ghost Writer (Review)

The Ghost Writer is an above average thriller/drama which is overall is a rewarding experience. It begins terrifically, slogs down a bit in the middle, and ends with so many sudden twists your neck might break. Its greatest strength is its direction from super-veteran Roman Polanski, which bears a slight similarity to Shutter Island, which I reviewed before. It follows a man who goes in to a situation he does not know the full implications of, and it ends up costing him more than he ever imagined.

Ewan McGregor stars as “The Ghost”, the man who has been chosen to help write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, wait, I’m sorry, Adam Lang, after the first ghost writer was found dead on the beaches of the Nantucket-esque island where Lang resides. I have now just realized they never reveal the Ghost Writer’s name, which strikes me as odd. Now that the film is over, I kind of understand why. It’s not like he’s that mysterious a character or anything, but if I explained my theory for the lack of name it would reveal the end of the film, so I shall refrain.

Lang is in the midst of being investigated for war crimes relating to torture and that whole Iraq situation, perhaps you’ve heard of it. This makes the memoirs extra juicy and potentially profitable for our Ghost friend, right? But soon he starts to fear for his own life as things get more and more complicated, and he turns instead in to more of an investigative reporter than a ghost writer, trying to figure out the truth about the mysterious Adam Lang. The answers Lang gives to the Ghost’s questions are all rather boring, and it all just doesn’t stack up with the evidence. Lang is accused of being a slave to the will of the United States, and the protesters that camp outside his house call him a murderer for casually sending troops off to war.

The script by novelist Robert Harris and Roman Polanski is often quite good. In fact, for the first half hour or so it’s excellent. We are drawn in to the world of Adam Lang, who has undoubtedly had an interesting life. Polanski, at age 76, is still one of the better directors out there, and it’s a shame to see all this hullaballoo about crimes he committed back in the 70’s. Should he have done what he did? Of course not, and the crime should have been punished… IN 1977. WHEN IT HAPPENED. At this point let the man live what years he has left in his life. He’s not about to go do it again.

But I digress. What was I talking about? Ah! The Ghost Writer. Anyway, Polanski is so great at creating the atmosphere that he is able to make Lang’s estate more of a desert island. It is isolated from the outside world, and he is holed up inside like a man hiding from his problems. The Ghost, however, just wants out. However, once he leaves the estate for his investigations, that’s when the film bogs down. For a while information is thrown at us that we essentially already knew, and we want the film to just get on with it. The film is not without tension, but for a film that is 128 minutes long, it sure feels like a longer haul. The atmosphere created in the first act becomes the film’s calling card, and it really just outstays its welcome a tad.

However, if you doze off at all in the middle third, you’ll certainly wake up in the last fifteen minutes. In this time the film takes a sharp left turn, a sharp right turn, and crashes you into a wall. At least it was unpredictable, and for the most part it made pretty good sense, despite the fact I found the last twenty seconds a little bit inexplicable, but like the rest of the film it is handled and shot beautifully. Not to be ignored here are the performances, which are all solid. McGregor does some of his best work here, yes I’m counting Attack of the Clones (sarcasm alert), and Pierce Brosnan kind of surprised me here. He’s playing a pretty complicated man in Adam Lang, and his performance is even better once you know what you know at the end.

All in all, The Ghost Writer is a very effective, if imperfect film that is able to balance genuine suspense and politics. It certainly handles the politics better than, say, Green Zone. I won’t be forgetting it any time soon, but I doubt come the end of 2010 I’ll care about it that much.

Rating: (out of 4)

P.S.- I went to a 12:10pm matinée showing at a theater nearby. I fully expected it to be empty. However, there were a fair amount of people there, yet when I walked in I brought the average age down to the 50's. I think that tells you something about the movies I like. Sigh.