One of the indie wins for 2010, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer is a tense, moody thriller that successfully serves as an Alfred Hitchcock homage without ever resulting to gimmicky aping. Based on the book, The Ghost, by Robert Harris, the film version sees Ewan McGregor as an eerily (but never obviously so) unnamed writer who takes up the task of ghost-writing the memoirs of the fictionalized former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) following the mysterious death of the previous writer.
Traveling to Lang’s private oceanfront home, McGregor’s character finds himself caught between the politics of the situation, deciphering Lang’s half-truths and forming a relationship with Lang’s wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams). Ultimately, work on the book leads the ghost writer to a political conspiracy that may be the reason for his predecessor’s demise.
All around, The Ghost Writer features performances by actors at the top of their game. McGregor faces the tricky task of playing a more or less everyman and manages to make some thankless scenes (researching data on a computer, for instance) interesting. Brosnan shines as Tony Blair-inspired politician who lets his charisma play in the background while bringing a lot of subtletly to the forefront. We instantly understand why he'd make a likely political candidate and, instead, get to focus on Lang's real personality. The balance of likeability and deception leaves the audience guessing and it's hard to imagine many other actors who could pull off the role so effortlessly.
Polanksi emerges as the most intriguing talent, though, wisely weaving a suspenseful thriller that is no doubt bolstered by the director’s own public perception. The film’s focus is less on solving a mystery and more about existing in the sense of unease that a mystery can create. To this end, there are no good guys or bad guys, just characters moving against an invisible, impartial manifestation of fate itself.
The Ghost Writer comes to Blu-ray with a nigh-flawless transfer and perfect audio. This disc is top of the line as far as HD presentations go and expertly recreates the meticulous sound and picture of the theatrical experience. Extras may be sparse, but, honestly, it’s not a film that should have a lot of additional explanation. We get a ten minute featurette entitled The Ghost Writer: Fiction or Reality?, featuring Harris’ thoughts on the film version of his book. There's another ten minute series of interviews called The Cast of The Ghost Writer. It's a decidedly fluffy behind-the-scenes piece which serves as less an in-depth discussion and more simple EPK interviews. Rounding out the disc and running about eight minutes is An Interview with Roman Polanski, a fine but ultimately bland sit-down with the director. If anything, it’s a testament to the fact that this is one film that doesn’t need a loaded disc.
The Ghost Writer comes in a standard keepcase with a slipcover. Inside is a flippable disc containing the Blu-Ray version of the film on one side and a DVD version (with exactly the same special features) on the other.
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