The Ghost Writer was disappointing

While significantly better than Alice in Wonderland, the move did not live up to expectations. The movie’s overt political stance and explicit criticism of Tony Blair would have been better served by a better story.

As it stands, Evan McGregor (the Ghost) comes up with his conspiracy theory based on almost no evidence as he’s stumbling around trying to edit the first draft of Adam Lang’s (Pierce Brosnan) biography. One of the red herrings convincing him of the conspiracy is a Google search suggesting a potential link between someone Lang knows and the CIA. I suppose, McGregor also believes Elvis lives on the moon, we are hiding aliens in Area 51, 9/11 was organized by our government and the moon landing was staged in Hollywood and never happened!

The story’s pace is also very slow. There were long periods where I was openly wondering when something would happen. The movie would have been better if they had kept the pace even and kept building up the tension like they do in great mysteries like The Spanish Prisoner.

The real star in the movie is the gorgeous house with intricate decorations that Lang is staying in in what seems to be Martha’s Vineyard. I just wish as much effort had gone into the story as into having a perfect setting!

  • Well said! The problem isn’t the film’s political content but the lack of any interesting substance at all. The long sequences where McGregor follows the directions of the Garmin (or TomTom?) while the camera focuses intently on the dashboard of his SUV have the drama and panache of any car trip you’ve ever taken with your kids – and feel just as interminable.