THE GHOST WRITER

    SUMMARY

                A writer finds a lot of dangerous secrets when he is asked to 'ghost write' for a former English Prime Minister. In the middle of a political storm the secrets get more and more deadly.

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DAVE G'S THE GHOST WRITER REVIEW:

With a name like ‘The Ghost Writer’ you could be forgiven for thinking that you are about to walk into the latest Sandra Bullock (‘All About Steve’, ‘The Proposal’) romantic comedy, but after just a few minutes you will soon realise that what you have actually walked into is one of the best written thrillers to have surfaced in quite a while. Don’t even let the words political thriller scare you off because this really is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire film.

When a writer referred to as The Ghost (Ewan McGregor – ‘Amelia’, ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’) is surprisingly chosen to act as a ghost writer on former British Prime Minister Adam Lang’s (Pierce Brosnan – ‘Remember Me’, ‘Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief’) biography he things the only thing that will affect him is the fact that he knows very little about politics… but that is the least of his worries. While he is welcomed nicely by Lang’s wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams – ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ TV’S ‘Dollhouse’) and his personal assistant, Amelia Bly (Kim Cattrall – ‘Sex And The City 2’, ‘Meet Monica Velour’) The Ghost soon feels out of his depth as he realises that the political storm happening around him is also hiding (and revealing) a lot of secrets, and here knowledge can mean death.

 Quite often political thrillers can become a yawn, but director Roman Polanksi (‘Oliver Twist’, ‘The Pianist’) makes sure that is never the case with ‘The Ghost Writer’. While some great cinematography and foreboding music go along way to creating suspense, ultimately you can’t go past Polanski’s script (which he co-wrote with the novelist, Robert Harris). The script is amazing, and standouts not only for its genuinely suspenseful and dramatic moments but also because of some of the best dialogue we have seen on the screen for a long time and also some dabs of black comedy that never seems out of place even though you don’t normally see it surface in a film of this genre. Some people may criticize the ending but after going away and thinking about it for a bit I think it was the perfect ending and I would have been disappointed if they had done anything.

 Ewan McGregor is once again a standout… and I can’t help but wonder whether or not this may have his named linked to an Oscar. I was a little worried that because of Brosnan’s past as James Bond that it would seem like Bond became Prime Minister but Brosnan makes Lang a truly memorable character. The other big surprise is Kim Cattrall who reminds audiences that she has acting skills that are completely wasted in ‘Sex And The City’.

 With legal proceedings looming this could well be Polanski’s last film, and if it is what a swan-song to go out on. This a brave thriller that takes a fair swipe at America, but is fair and believable. A terrific thriller that has just been placed on my ‘Best Ever’ list. One of the best scripts to surface in a long time.

RATING:- *****  (out of 5)

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