The Ghost Writer

PG-13

2/12/20102h 8m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Read between the lies. ~

Overview:

A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.

Director:

Roman Polanski

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$45,000,000.00

Revenue:

$60,300,000.00

Key words:

london, england
central intelligence agency (cia)
based on novel or book
politics
war crimes
massachusetts
author
martha's vineyard

Cast

Ewan McGregor

~ as ~

The Ghost

Pierce Brosnan

~ as ~

Adam Lang

Kim Cattrall

~ as ~

Amelia Bly

Olivia Williams

~ as ~

Ruth Lang

Tom Wilkinson

~ as ~

Paul Emmett

Timothy Hutton

~ as ~

Sidney Kroll

Jon Bernthal

~ as ~

Rick Ricardelli

Tim Preece

~ as ~

Roy

Robert Pugh

~ as ~

Richard Rycart

David Rintoul

~ as ~

Stranger

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Renovatio
Written 8 year(s) ago
7
Such an eerie and haunting movie… I expected just another political thriller, but this is so much more interesting…

The remote setting, the media storm… the layered motivations of the characters, sexual, financial, political etc…

It was also great to see cinematography that wasn’t just close ups of talking heads, which is the norm for these kinds of movies…

I also liked the parallels to the real world, the Blair-esque prime minister, the Middle Eastern wars and such, but also that it really is it’s own movie and is more concerned with painting a certain world than with commenting on current events…
CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
It's quite difficult to watch this in the UK and not draw parallels with a certain real former Prime Minister - especially given the way "Lang" is rather chummily played by Pierce Brosnan. He is trying to have his memoirs written, and after an accident robs him of the incumbent, his team alight on a man who shows no interest in or has any knowledge of politics. This nameless character (Ewan McGregor) is given strict instruction about the manuscript, whom he can talk to or about it to and his subject and wife "Ruth" (Olivia Williams) seems approachable enough. His investigations, though, start to arouse a few suspicions - especially when he begins to feel like he is being watched, followed and manipulated. "Lang" is soon publicly caught up in some war crime investigations and his ghost writer starts to wonder just how far his boss went to foster and facilitate the relationship between his country and the USA - where they are now living and working. Add to this internecine play, his secretive secretary "Amelia" (Kim Catrall) and a rather enigmatic contribute from "Emmett" (Tom Wilkinson) and we have the makings of an intricately woven political thriller in which, for a chance, McGregor does well. He does rabbit in the headlights well as his character becomes embroiled in matters well beyond his depth. Roman Polanski keeps the film well paced with the chilly scenario and remote locations playing well to a sense of menace and duplicity. It's a bit sluggish out of the blocks, but once in gear it works well.