THE GHOST WRITER
5 out of 5 stars

MAN! WHAT A MOVIE! this is probably one of the best political thrillers i've seen in a while... i just love when politicians have burried secrets, and things start to get uncovered all the while a scandal is blossoming over their heads! :)


directed by roman polanski (yes, THE one), the ghost writer is all about a former british prime minister and his memoirs. adam lang (007 AKA pierce brosnan) hides away at a remote island (shutter island style) near martha's vineyard, after he's been accused of being a war criminal for arranging illegal torture flights for accused terrorists in england. he wants to have a "ghost writer" write his memoir for him, thus ewan mcgregor comes into play... writing the memoir is the easy part, since a first draft has already been written by adam's deceased assistant michael mcara, who mysteriously "drowned" in the ocean. it's all very hush-hush and fishy to everyone, but what the writer wants to know is what the bigger secret is that cost michael his life and why no one seems to want to talk to him about it...

now, without giving anything away... (the secret is a good one, trust me) the writer is tossed into this web of conspiracy, and the movie does a great job flipping out each layer and piece of the puzzle. i wouldn't say that this is polanski's best, but you gotta hand it to the man who made every single artistic decision behind swiss bars and edited the movie under house arrest. the guy may be a child molester, but he's still quite brilliant! i personally liked the pianist and repulsion as polanski's best, but he does the political-thriller genre justice with this one... great acting, great casting, and great direction! what's kind of creepy is that some of what happens in the movie is based upon former PM tony blair's life... :/

so if you liked the girl with a dragon tattoo or state of play, this one is DEFINITELY for you!