Though packaged as a political thriller, this film bears more in common to creepy Polanski movies like ninth gate and makes it more a mystery to be unraveled. Ewan Mcgregor plays a ghost writer hired to write the memoir of British pm, played by Pierce Brosnan. the original writer was found dead with his car left on a boat so this is a dangerous job, especially when the pm is accused of war crimes after agreeing to the work. very creepy scenes, watching it the first time is edge of your seat entertainment and it has a good enough value for repeat viewings. some may be disappointed in the lack of real political drama and the almost supernatural creepiness in its place but i enjoyed it for what it is.
The Ghost Writer is a well made movie and it has solid performances throughout. I enjoyed the uneasy feeling that our protagonist was heading down a dark and doomed path, despite the fact that he makes smart decisions throughout the narrative. The film succeeds in creating a convincing and secluded world of the political elite. The only thing that bugged me about the movie is the one scene where the gun is fired (I’m trying not to have spoilers in this review) — it just seemed quite out-of-place.
The Ghost Writer is a very odd and uncomfortable film! The plot pulls you in, but eventually you realize that Polanski is less concerned with the plot (which is deliberately vague and multi-directional) than with creating a nightmarish atmosphere of unrelenting, cold menace. In this case, as Marshall McCluhan used to say, the medium is the message- or rather, the environment in which the protagonist moves is the message. Everything is cold, wet, hard and grey, no warmth anywhere. Upon this landscape move men who are often just silhouettes, but who suggest menace anyway. Everyone uses, or is used by, everyone else. Death is impersonal, unpredictable and always a possibility. Quite simply, Hell on Earth.