The Ghost Writer (2010)

Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer' is surely the sleeper of the year.

No one is talking about it, and they should be. The movie is a well-woven web of suspense, intrigue, quixotic characters, fascinating locales and Sherlock Holmesian spellbinding and unraveling.

Ewan McGregor plays a writer brought in to replace the ghost writer for the former British prime minister, Adam Lang, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. McGregor's character has no name. He's just "your ghost," as he tells Lang upon their meeting. The first ghost writer was found dead in the surf near Lang's beach house. Hmm.

The film is filled with top-drawer actors in relatively small parts, which says loudly that the script must be good to draw such renowned actors for so little "face time." James Belushi, Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson dot this ghostly mystery with vivid strokes.

Even Kim Cattrall of 'Sex in the City' fame actually gives a taut, credible performance as Lang's executive aide, a younger Miss Moneypenny of the Bond genre with almost as smooth a wit.

Needless to say, the Ghost finds himself entangled in the proverbial web of intrigue surrounding the former leader's memoirs and the secrets it holds between its lines.

Brosnan is becoming more and more a favorite as he moves away from the pretty boy roles and works on his acting chops. He's quite a snotty, controlling chap as the former PM. Even more, but more quietly, controlling is Lang's wife, Ruth, portrayed by British actress Olivia Williams. Glib, angry, biting, cajoling, purring, tearing-up, she is a Bond vixen with a much more polished veneer. Helen MacInnes might have crafted her.

Between these strongly drawn characters slides the Ghost. McGregor gives a smartly understated performance, not trying to steal or overpower any scenes. Just the right touch.

It's hard to praise Polanski, who has yet to be tried for admittedly having sex with a 13-year-old decades ago, despite his Academy Award-winning 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Chinatown' and sympathy for him in the loss of his wife, Sharon Tate in one of the bloodiest of Charles Manson's murders. But he is brilliant, and The Ghost Writer leaves no doubt of his mature filmmaking skills.

The Ghost Writer will likely slip into ignominity as quietly as it came. It shouldn't but it likely will. Just be sure you don't miss it. And don't blink or you'll still miss it.


http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3376022553/