You look like you’ve seen a Ghost(writer)

The Ghost, to call it by its proper British name, is a tense and enjoyable thriller.

Set against the backdrop of a bleak island in the United States, it stars Pierce Brosnan as a thinly veiled copy of Tony Blair, trying to write his memoirs. As his previous ghost writer has been found dead, Ewan McGregor is drafted in to help him finish the manuscript. But as events unfold, McGregor begins to question whether his predecessor’s death was an accident after all...

I enjoy a good thriller and The Ghost doesn’t disappoint. Slow and tense, it takes its time gradually building to the climatic conclusion.

There are some great performances from Brosnan (who’s not in it as much as you’d think), Kim Cattrall (whose accent isn’t bad) and Tom Wilkinson (who is great in everything). There’s also a small role for Timothy Hutton (Nate from Leverage) and an almost unrecognisable James Belushi (the years have not been kind). Ewan McGregor is an OK lead, but not quite the leading man he could be. The real stand-out performance comes from Olivia Williams as the mock Cherie Blair. It’s the first thing I’ve seen her in since Dollhouse got cancelled, and she’s a great actress – here’s hoping we see more of her.

All in all, a good thriller, worth a watch if you like the genre.

Also – just an addendum on the title of this post. Apparently, in the US they had to call the film “The Ghost Writer” as the studios were worried that audience would be disappointed if they saw a film called “The Ghost” which featured no supernatural spectres. I personally know quite a lot of Americans, and (although admittedly they’re all in the 22% that own passports) I don’t think any of them would be flummoxed by such a title (although they might be by the entirely too British word “flummoxed”). My point is this – studios, please stop treating the audience like they’re mentally deficient.