The Ghost

This film’s release was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police on allegations of sexual assault on a young girl in the 1970s. This is a shame, as the film is a clever, fast-paced political thriller.

Based on Robert Harris’ novel, The Ghost follows an unnamed ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) who becomes the unlikely ghost for the former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnon) after his predecessor drowns in somewhat shady circumstances. Sent to a secluded island, the writer soon meets Amanda Bly (Kim Cattrall), Lang’s personal assistant and Ruth Lang (Olivia Williams), his wife. The writer leaves for the island the day that former foreign minister Rick Rycard (Robert Pugh) accuses Adam Lang of being complicit in the kidnap and torture by the CIA of suspected terrorists.

The writer soon finds himself caught up in a dangerous web of secrets, as he begins to unpick his predecessors death, and begins to discover the shady pasts of Adam and Ruth Lang.
Brosnon’s character, Adam Lang, has clear parallels to Tony Blair. He is seems friendly and charismatic, he is said to give great speeches and he also is involved in illegal wars, and seems to live in the back pocket of America. Watching this film a few days after the former president George W Bush’s revelation that torture actually saved British lives, was surprisingly chilling, as was the moment in the film where America is listed alongside North Korea and Iraq as being one of the few places where the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction is not recognised.

As with the other political dramas I’ve watched recently, The Ghost is saved from being rather dull by incredibly fast cuts and a rather thrilling mystery story running under it. The literal isolation of the characters on the island (they have to get a ferry or a private jet to leave), adds to the thriller factor, as well as backing up Lang’s words that as Prime Minister you become cut off from the outside world.

Performance-wise, McGregor is fine as the ghost writer turned investigative journalist-a man who knows little about politics who finds himself at the heart of one of the biggest political surprises in history. As Adam Lang, Brosnon has surprisingly little to do, but then the idea of the man as an enigma, of being unreachable by everyone, would require him to be a distant figure. The best performance in the film is that of Olivia Williams as Ruth, Adam’s apparently long-suffering wife. The film’s final twist regarding her is a little far-fetched, at least to me, but I think that is in part due to her wholly convincing performance.

All in all, I think The Ghost is a good film, especially in this time when both Tony Blair and George W Bush have both released their memoirs, that deserves more attention for its contents as opposed to the actions of its, very good (in this film at least), director.