Ghost in the Darkness

The Ghost Writer

*** out of ****

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall and Tom Wilkinson

Running time: 128 minutes

He might be under house arrest, but Roman Polanski still knows how to direct an arresting thriller.

You may not respect him for his misdeeds, but it’s difficult not to admire him as a filmmaker for his masterful work on The Ghost Writer, a mystery where the direction is more intriguing than the intrigue itself.

Like the disgraced filmmaker, the Ghost (played by Ewan McGregor, whose character’s name is never revealed) is stuck inside a swank fortress, isolated from society.

He’s assigned the job of completing the memoirs for a former British Prime Minister named Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). The Ghost is replacing a writer who wound up dead after a suspicious accident, but that's the least of his concerns.

Right as he begins his duties at the politician's mansion, a British Cabinet Minister publicly denounces Lang as a war criminal. Soon enough, the press pickets outside the home, waiting impatiently for the ex-PM to be tried for his actions. (No doubt Polanski can relate to more than one character now.)

Of course, the publicity only makes the Ghost’s work a hot property. But with only two weeks to pen the manuscript, and with uneasy relations between Lang’s personal assistant (Kim Cattrall) and bossy wife (Olivia Williams) distracting the ex-PM, his deadline seems out of reach.

It’s a good thing the Ghost's predecessor did some digging before he arrived on the scene. Our nameless protagonist decides to leave the estate to gather up a whole other story – one he didn’t set out to scribe.

Similarities to Polanski’s predicament notwithstanding, there are several other allusions within the twisty script, adapted by the director and Robert Harris, author of the film's source material ("The Ghost").

Adam Lang is a suave “man of the people” under fire for unethical foreign policy and is harshly criticized for his close alignment with the United States. Since Harris started working on "The Ghost" in the wake of Tony Blair’s resignation, the comparisons feel boundless.

It’s also not every day that you can marvel at a Pierce Brosnan performance, but this is just one of those times. Although only in a few scenes, he makes the most of his screen-time as the slick and impassioned politician. Tom Wilkinson as an old-time friend and Harvard professor with a few secrets of his own is great in a brief appearance, as well.

McGregor is also excellent, blending far better into his role as a writer here than he did in 2009’s The Men Who Stare at Goats. Moreover, Olivia Williams is fiercely lewd as Lang’s saucy wife, while Cattrall’s British accent could have used some tweaking.

But there’s one master in this film, and it’s the one currently stuck in a Swiss chalet (not the restaurant, but nice try).

Polanski does something almost entirely unheard of in contemporary thrillers. He doesn’t throttle straight for the action to move the events forward, but focuses the camera on mundane things and behaviours to shroud the viewer with paranoia.

He may take his precious time, but the man knows how to create suspense. There’s never a sense of calm at any time within The Ghost Writer. Props to composer Alexandre Desplat and cinematographer Pawel Edelman for emulating a tense, Hitchcockian strain of suspense throughout (my favourite homage being a gripping note-passing sequence).

The pacing is next to perfect. The mystery elements, on the other hand, are usually flat and only occasionally convincing.

The clues seem too orderly and convenient - a house visit and a couple of Google searches are all it takes - while the film’s final twist is uninspired. The audience may even be questioning the irrationality of the protagonist’s actions at the end more than the legitimacy of the big reveal; unfortunately, it wouldn’t matter as neither work particularly well.

Roman Polanski may not be someone you’d welcome into your home. Regardless, he is capable enough to take a slight, second-rate thriller at the seams and cloak it with layers of greatness that recall the finest paranoia thrillers of the 1970s.

The Ghost Writer arrives with such masterful direction and simmers with such patient suspense, this reviewer is willing to forgive the questionable outcome.