The Ghost dives straight into an eerie atmosphere in a somewhat similar fashion to Shutter Island when, after being offered £250,000 by his agent to write memoirs for the mysterious, and former UK Prime Minister, Adam Lang (Brosnan), The Ghost (Ewan McGregor) dives straight on the next plane to a secret hideout on a remote and unnamed island.
Adam Lang is on trial for war crimes against his country, leaving him in an ironically opposite state to director Roman Polanski (pre-arrest), unwilling to leave the America for fear of reprimand, and meaning a memoir that sheds Lang under a positive light is his top priority.
Whilst working on Lang’s memoirs, The Ghost uncovers that the previous writer apparently committed suicide, falling of the back of a boat, and when suspicious events occur again in the residency, The Ghost is keen to find out what really happened to his predecessor, no matter what he may uncover.
Though Roman Polanski’s filmography is amongst the finest in his generation, it’s fair to say that The Ghost is up there with some of his best works. Perhaps not as great as the 2002’s indomitable The Pianist, the two are different animals, setting out to achieve different goals, and The Ghost stands up for it’s own strengths.
After meandering around Hollywood without a role to captivate his obvious ability, Pierce Brosnan takes off the reigns in The Ghost and delivers a great performance. Perhaps his conviction varies at times, but in pockets, this is the best from Brosnan since his golden years as Bond.
Diverging from Sex In The City, Kim Cattrall will do well continue down this road. Bringing something different to the plot, playing a strange secretary who obviously knows more than is leading on, and she brings a dark characteristic to the role very well.
Though it will likely be overshadowed by the on-rushing summer blockbusters, and the warm-ups just gone, The Ghost offers something different and a welcome getaway from feather-lite narratives we’re all too used to in modern cinema. Not available in 3-D.
★★★★★