Day 28- Movie 24. The Ghost Writer (2010)

For obvious reasons, I'm not a big fan of Roman Polanski as a human being. However, I have to admit he is an extremely talented director. He shows off that talent in The Ghost Writer, a political thriller with themes of corruption, conspiracy, murder, betrayal, love, and literature. This is a very good movie. The movie is about a ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) hired to write the memoirs of the ex-Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) of the United Kingdom. As he begins writing, he stumbles upon a secret that dangerous forces want to be kept quiet.

The movie is so good because Polanski is such a terrific director. The movie's pacing, timing, dialogue, and acting are all top notch. The story is interesting and exciting. And yet, surprisingly, audiences almost completely ignored this film at the box office. The movie made only $15 million- not much for a very solid film. I wonder why people stayed away? Some of it might have had to do with Polanski, but I bet that was minimal. For some reason, this film just didn't connect with audiences. I admit I personally wasn't very excited to see it. Even now, while I know it was a good movie, and I would highly recommend it, I still am not able to be overly excited about it. This is a film that hit me intellectually- I was interested in the mystery, engaged in the twists, and laughed at the humorous parts. However, it didn't make much of an emotional impact. I was interested, but I didn't really care. That's where the film drops the ball.

The other thing that disappointed me about this film is that while it was extremely well executed, the movie doesn't really give us anything we haven't seen before. The movie isn't necessarily original- it's wrapped up nicely with a bow, but the film is basically similar to many other movies that we've all seen before. I wish Polanski would have given us something new, rather than just giving us a similar story that was all shined up.

Despite my nitpicking, this is a really good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. While I wish it had surprised me more, the story and characters are very strong, and the movie is solid. I give this film a deserving 7.5/10.

Has anyone seen this movie? Agree or disagree with my assessment? Leave comments below, or as many of you do, just send me a message on facebook. I'd be glad to hear your opinions. More movies to come today...