I had a crazy idea, a New Years Resolution if you will, to try and watch one movie a day for the entire year and write a quick review. Knowing how crazy my life is, we'll see how fast this lasts, but I made it through the first 3 days. Maybe I can make it through a whole week. (Day 1) January 1st started off with the latest Roman Polanski film. I had choose this film after it appeared on quite a few top 10 lists for 2010. I'm a fan of Polanski's films, having just(re)watched "Knife in the Water" (1962), "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) and "The Pianist" (2002) this past year. "The Ghost Writer" might be considered a suspense thriller, a genre I particularly enjoy, and one that has been lacking in quality for quite some time. Most of the cast is topnotch with Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams in the major roles. Supporting roles are filled with all faces you should recognize, some good; Tom Wilkinson and Eli Wallach, and some that seem to stand out too much; Kim Cattrall of "Sex and the City" fame, Timothy Hutton and a bald James Belushi.The story centers around a ghost-writer (McGregor) who has landed the job of writing the memoirs of Adam Lang (Brosnan), the former UK Prime Minister, after the previous writer "committed suicide". Lang has retired with his wife to the Northeastern USA, living on an island, in a luxurious, isolated premises complete with a security detail and a secretarial staff. Soon, Adam Lang gets embroiled in a major scandal with international ramifications while the ghost writer begins to discover that the memoirs may contain some highly sensitive material hidden within it's pages. Material that may have helped along the death of the previous writer.
Let me start by saying the acting is very good with most of the parts given the right personality to their characters. Polanski as well does a great job creating an atmosphere and a pace to the film, but I don't know if I would stick this in a top 10 list. The story is pretty solid with only a few minor holes. Unfortunately one of them is the ending, when the ghostwriter sends a written message to "the enemy" who's across the room, telling them he knows the truth. After running from them for most of the movie, why would he do this without going for help first? This leaves a bad taste in your mouth after having watched this story make sense for most of it's running time.
I'm wondering if critics are praising this movie for two reasons; one is Polanski and the fact that critics will back a Oscar winning director just because. He does some very nice work here, and it shows how a great director can handle this material while other mediocre directors go overboard or try too hard. Two is the fact that there hasn't been a good thriller in a LONG time. When you have nothing to compare it to, a good film can come out seeming great. Personally, I was able to figure out the twists early on, but that isn't a hit against the film. The big issue I have is the fact I don't feel the need to revisit it. Many of the great thriller, even after knowing what happens, you want to see again. I enjoyed the viewing but don't need a second helping.
