A ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) is a little bit reluctant about his next assignment. He is not all that into writing a politic memoir, especially when the ghost writer hired before him ended up dead. And while the cause of death is considered to be either suicide or accident, it doesn’t sound like the perfect job. However his agent and the promised fat paycheck persuades him to take on the job.
The memoir he’ll be ghost-writing is of former prime minister of UK, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). His working conditions are far from ideal as he is not allowed to copy or take out the manuscript, has only one month to finish it, the house of Lang’s is in the middle of nowhere, Lang has a discontent wife (Olivia Williams) who is followed by bodyguards wherever she goes and totally despises Lang’s perfectionist assistant Amelia Bly (Kim Catrall), who she suspects of having an affair with her husband.
The conditions get worse when Lang gets accused of war crimes and people are making frantic protests in front of his house. Because of the chaos, now our ghost writer has to stay in the house, and in his dead predecessor’s room. The publishers also want the book finished 2 weeks sooner.
Things get complicated as our writer is not sure who to trust and becomes increasingly convinced that the previous ghost writer was murdered. But who wanted him dead? What the hell is in that memoir? And will they be coming after him as well, whoever they are?
Directed by Roman Polanski, written/adapted by Roman Polanski and Robert Harris, based on the book called The Ghost, written by Robert Harris. The Ghost Writer is a solid, albeit a little slow-paced drama-mystery-thriller with a stellar cast. Pierce Brosnan certainly looks the part of a handsome-actor-turned-politician, Ewan is perfectly tailored for his role and who can blame an ice-cold wife Ruth Lang (icily portrayed by (Olivia Williams) for suspecting her husband was sleeping with his assistant that comes in the form of Kim Catrall, a.k.a Sex and The City’s Samantha. The slow pace is not a negative thing as the movie always holds your attention and keeps you guessing. Some viewers complained about the ending but I personally loved it. 7.8 on Imdb. I probably wouldn’t go as far to rate it a 7.8, but it is definitely above 7. You don’t always find intelligent entertainment. Thumbs up.
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Note: I didn’t read the book. But I am tempted to read Robert Harris’s books.
Fun Note: Adam Lang’s lawyer is played by Timothy Hutton, star of the heist thriller TV series Leverage.
And the ghost is hired by a bald James Belushi.
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