Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.
Director:
Roman Polanski
Stars:
Jodie Foster,
Kate Winslet,
Christoph Waltz
In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.
Director:
Roman Polanski
Stars:
Harrison Ford,
Betty Buckley,
Emmanuelle Seigner
An adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, where an orphan meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
A young couple moves in to an apartment only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to control her life.
An unremarkable ghost-writer has landed a lucrative contract to redact the memoirs of Adam Lang, the former UK Prime Minister. After dominating British politics for years, Lang has retired with his wife to the USA. He lives on an island, in luxurious, isolated premises complete with a security detail and a secretarial staff. Soon, Adam Lang gets embroiled in a major scandal with international ramifications that reveals how far he was ready to go in order to nurture UK's "special relationship" with the USA. But before this controversy has started, before even he has closed the deal with the publisher, the ghost-writer gets unmistakable signs that the turgid draft he is tasked to put into shape inexplicably constitutes highly sensitive material.Written by
Eduardo Casais <casaise@acm.org>
Lang's beach house set was built entirely in a studio. The Cape Cod views through the windows were the result of greenscreens. See more »
Goofs
When the ghost writer and his agent (Rick) meet in the first scene, in a bar/restaurant, the agent has the glass almost empty of water, but in the next image (filming angle changed) his glass is 3/4 full with water. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
The Ghost:
You realize I know nothing about politics.
Rick Ricardelli:
You voted for him, didn't you?
The Ghost:
Adam Lang? Of course I did, everyone voted for him. He wasn't a politician, he was a craze.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The title appears as highlighted words on pages of the scattered manuscript. See more »
Marcia Funebre
Allegro Assai from Beethoven's Symphony No. 3
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Symphony Nova Scotia
Conducted by Georg Tintner
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc. See more »
Polanski does some of his best work in a long time in this nearly-flawless and beautiful-looking film. Engaging story, interesting characters, incredible mood and sense of place (amazingly, locations in Germany substituted brilliantly for Martha's Vineyard -- having spent some time on the Vineyard, I was completely convinced that's what I was seeing, forgetting during the film that Polanski wouldn't have set foot on U.S. soil), more implied violence than any real screen violence (for those who like suspense but stay away from thrillers because of worry about violence, don't worry) -- it's all about suspense and intrigue. Every shot is gorgeous. Fun references to CHINATOWN, and especially Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD. Lovely performances by Olivia Williams, who is sexy and vulnerable, Pierce Brosnan, the absolutely always brilliant Tom Wilkinson and an extraordinary cameo by Actors Studio legend Eli Wallach (he still has the chops!). The ending caps a perfect film perfectly, and the MacGuffin is great fun. If you like vintage Hitchcock, and especially if you like the best work of Polanski, don't miss it. I'm ready to see it again and watch how it's put together.
168 of 283 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Polanski does some of his best work in a long time in this nearly-flawless and beautiful-looking film. Engaging story, interesting characters, incredible mood and sense of place (amazingly, locations in Germany substituted brilliantly for Martha's Vineyard -- having spent some time on the Vineyard, I was completely convinced that's what I was seeing, forgetting during the film that Polanski wouldn't have set foot on U.S. soil), more implied violence than any real screen violence (for those who like suspense but stay away from thrillers because of worry about violence, don't worry) -- it's all about suspense and intrigue. Every shot is gorgeous. Fun references to CHINATOWN, and especially Billy Wilder's SUNSET BOULEVARD. Lovely performances by Olivia Williams, who is sexy and vulnerable, Pierce Brosnan, the absolutely always brilliant Tom Wilkinson and an extraordinary cameo by Actors Studio legend Eli Wallach (he still has the chops!). The ending caps a perfect film perfectly, and the MacGuffin is great fun. If you like vintage Hitchcock, and especially if you like the best work of Polanski, don't miss it. I'm ready to see it again and watch how it's put together.