Grade: A-
Director: Roman Polanski (The Pianist)
Writers: Roman Polanski and Robert Harris
Starring: Ewen McGregor as The Ghost, Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang, Olivia Williams as Ruth Lang and Kim Cattrall as Amelia Bly
There are a lot of political thriller films out there these days, recently more and more about the Iraq War and related things. There are different ways directors do this. Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone starred Matt Damon in a Bourne-like take on the attempt by the Bush administration, represented by Greg Kinnear, to find weapons of mass destruction. Kevin McDonald’s well-done and underrated State of Play last year was a journalist’s story, as Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams were investigating the broader ramifications of Ben Affleck’s mistress’ death.
Roman Polanski takes a different approach, that of a mystery. It flows like a Sherlock Holmes story, with the hero inhabiting the life of the target and finding things out from the inside. The only things missing are Watson, the hat and the pipes. The British accents are there. The intrigue is there. The politics are there.
McGregor plays The Ghost, a writer who is hired by publishing houses to “ghost write” memoirs. He is chosen by a publisher to work on the autobiography of former UK Prime Minister Adam Lang after the previous ghost was found drowned on a beach in Martha’s Vineyard. The Ghost flies to America to work with Lang on the project, but things are thrown in disarray when former British foreign minister Richard Rycart (Robert Pugh) accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of terror suspects and handing them over to the CIA for torture. This is considered a war crime, and an investigation from the International Criminal Court follows. The Ghost begins an investigation of his own, digging into things left behind by his predecessor and questioning Lang’s assistant and possible mistress Amelia Bly and wife Ruth. What he discovers endangers his life.
Unfortunately, I have not had the apparent pleasure of taking in a Polanski film before this one. I plan on watching The Pianist soon. He crafted this film, based on script co-writer Robert Harris’ novel The Ghost, in a way that it does not only work as a political thriller, but as a Holmes-ian mystery. McGregor plays an apt Holmes, not having nearly the same intellect or oddities but the curiosity required for the part. The Ghost’s apathy at the beginning of the film about working with Lang subsides slowly as he finds out more about what could be the truth. Certain scenes evoke not only a suspenseful attitude, but an edge-of-your-seat that you would not expect in such a film. It’s about a writer, for goodness sake. It’s Ewen McGregor without a lightsaber, yet it’s exciting! The camera movements are nothing special, it is the direction of what the camera catches, the words that are spoken, the emotions (or sometimes lack therof) captured by the actor’s faces.
Speaking of the actors, McGregor portrays the descent out of apathy and into danger wonderfully. We see the subtle hints at what is to come as The Ghost does, and he tells us how to react because, as if we were in the story, he has no back story to see how to react. The only thing we know about his past is that he had an interesting prior romantic relationship and he ghost-wrote a memoir for a magician. Also, he does not care about politics. And interestingly, he retains that apathy throughout the film as he delves into something very political. Brosnan’s Lang is only in about a third of the film itself while The Ghost populates about every scene, yet is in the background of our mind in every moment, his presence known. He plays his part well enough. Williams, whose career has mostly been in British cinema apart from her role as Bruce Willis’ wife in The Sixth Sense and a lead role in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, plays a dull and weary politician’s wife who seems to want to get out of the marriage but stays for some reason.
Other things of note: Alexandre Desplat’s score adds to the “thriller” part of The Ghost Writer in a light-hearted way. High notes punctuate the expected tumultuous lower notes in a way that heightens the tension but promises things will be revealed.
And that’s where this film goes right, like a Holmes story. We find things out as The Ghost does. It makes this more of a thriller than Green Zone and State of Play were. We are forced to choose who we believe as The Ghost does. That is where Polanski succeeds.
