leethomas-11621 The suspense comes and goes until finally the movie leaves you wanting more - more exposition, more complication, less contrivance. Worth watching (as usual) for Ewan McGregor's performance. And the island setting and the wintry atmosphere. I don't think we see a gun shot in anger during the whole movie which for a thriller must be a sort of feat! (viewed 1/17)

Luigi Di Pilla I hesitated for long time to give it a chance. I discovered The Ghost Writer again on Netflix. I have to admit that it was better than I expected. It begins slow but steady interesting. Then it gets more and more into an intriguing story. Finally it ends with great surprises that I couldn't even imagine at the beginning of the movie. Ewan McGregory played his role perfectly. I liked the mysterious filming locations and the perfectly adapted music a la Hitchcock. Director Roman Polanski created a solid mystery thriller. Bravo. It deserves by far a good entertaining rate of 7/10.

c-kelsall Say what you like about Roman Polanski's apparent predilection for statutory rape, the man certainly knows how to direct a film, particularly thrillers. he conjures states of paranoia and extreme anxiety effortlessly, and his pacing is near-perfect, with scarcely a lull in the attention of the viewer. There's a wonderful twist which I never came close to spotting before the big reveal. In my view, The Ghost Writer is right up there with The Apartment in these terms. The down-side of films like these is that, to a certain extent, they are candy floss, a mirage, designed to connect on an immediately satisfying basis, but delve down below the surface and the intrinsic substance isn't there. This, I think, is a fundamental flaw in the genre. One reviewer I noted pointed out that Hollywood doesn't make enough films like this; sadly, I'm not sure it's capable of doing so. After all, Roman Polanski is not a product of the Hollywood system, and in fact is obliged to remain outside it. There's possibly a debate to be had regarding the value of being free to create art versus the moral responsibility to face justice, but I'm not inclined to involve myself in that. The acting performances were mostly note-perfect, particularly the leads, with a memorable cameo from Tom Wilkinson, but the one bum note was Kim Cattrall's supposed English accent, which was mostly pretty unconvincing. My disappointment stems from the fact that her origins are British, albeit when she was very young; maybe nobody on the production dared to tell her she needed a dialogue coach. Having said that, her performance as the slightly over-protective personal assistant to Pierce Brosnan's ex-Prime Minister was convincing. Overall, as an example of the genre, it's hard to beat.

grantss Good, but not great. Intriguing plot, well shot, very well acted. However, the plot often seems contrived, and there are some gaps. Plus in the end you think "So what? This was the big secret?". For all the stylish, clever build-up, the ending is quite underwhelming.Great performances all round. Olivia Williams is miscast though. Not because of her ability to play her part, but we are supposed to believe she is in her mid-to-late 50s! She certainly didn't look it.Decent enough movie, but not worth all the hype.