Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Ewan McGregor | ... | The Ghost | |
Jon Bernthal | ... | Rick Ricardelli | |
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Tim Preece | ... | Roy |
Jim Belushi | ... | John Maddox (as James Belushi) | |
Timothy Hutton | ... | Sidney Kroll | |
Anna Botting | ... | SKY TV Newsreader | |
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Yvonne Tomlinson | ... | Stewardess |
Milton Welsh | ... | Taxi Driver | |
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Alister Mazzotti | ... | Protection Officer #1 |
Tim Faraday | ... | Barry | |
Kim Cattrall | ... | Amelia Bly | |
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Kate Copeland | ... | Alice |
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Soogi Kang | ... | Dep |
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Lee Hong Thay | ... | Duc |
Olivia Williams | ... | Ruth Lang |
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 is campaigning for his foundation with his wife in 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>
Ewan McGregor gets rid of every ounce of glamour and allows his Polanskian character to emerge. I though, a few years ago, Polanski could have played him himself the way he played so beautifully in "The Tenant" Those two characters are not that far apart. Taking over an apartment or a job from someone who leaves the scene under very mysterious circumstances is practically the same thing. McGregor, however, is superb. In "The Ghost Writer" events play close to the knuckle. Who is Pierce Brosnan? Tony Blair? and Olivia Williams? Classic film-making at its best. Compelling and visually stunning. The score by Alexander Desplat reminded me of Bernard Herrman and the atmosphere is so thick that the film's 2 hours plus fly by at an amazing speed. Polanski at 77 doesn't show any signs of jadedness. He is in total control. Hurrah for that!