The Ghost Writer: Review By Julian Left

The Ghost Writer sets not new boundaries for the genre but establishes a great accomplishment in film-making in this particular time where strong emotional thrillers are not in the middle of attention like in earlier days. The Ghost Writer is a story about, obviously, a ghost-writer known as "The Ghost" who is hired to write and finish in less than two weeks the memoirs of Adam Lang, an ex-politician (former British Prime Minister) who is accused of being a war criminal in his past by supporting illegal kidnapping for torture. As The Ghost investigates the past of Adam Long, things get complicated and secrets are uncovered, secrets that will put his life in jeopardy. This is a strong thrilling very very well written story, with no major flaws as I've observed, delivered in a wonderful pace, time not being a problem. The problem though, was the lack of that suspenseful atmosphere that Chinatown had. I'm not saying this movie lacks suspense but it does not actually get me caught and involved in the person investigation The Ghost has as J.J. Gittes did. I'm not saying I was not interested in where the story went but more I was a little bit disappointed in how the story went. The Ghost Writer lacks in the score also, because they could have made something more thrilling and they could have made something that will show the cold atmosphere the movie has. The cast was great and they all did a great job in the movie delivering every little aspect of their character in a natural way not showing any sign of over-acting or over-reaction.

The execution of the movie was solid, the film editing being probably comparable to Shutter Island in some way. The problem stood in cinematography by transmitting few signs of emotion, thoughts or any sensations. It was just cold at times and irrelevant.

Besides all that, like I said, The Ghost Writer is a well-written story with good acting but nothing else more. I enjoyed, I wanted to know more about the secretes involved thanks to the great character development and great timing between the main scenes but I did not felt a punch in the stomach like "wow this movie hits hard". On short, great thriller, you need to watch it but don't get yourself too hyped about it. Just expect strong writing for a story that might mess with you in comfortable ways. I will definitely be inclined to say Roman Polanski deserves an Oscar nominee for writing and directing and The Ghost Writer might have a chance to be nominated for Best Picture since there are 10 nominees.

Storyline/Dialogue: 9,5

Acting: 8

Art Direction: 8

Cinematography/Editing: 8

Soundtrack: 7,5

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Overall: 8,2