The Ghost Writer (2010)
80%RT Audience Score: 70%
Awards & Nominations: 33 wins & 56 nominations
While it may lack the revelatory punch of Polanski’s finest films, Ghost Writer benefits from stylish direction, a tense screenplay, and a strong central performance from Ewan McGregor
The Ghost Writer may not be the greatest film of all time, but it’s definitely worth a watch. Polanski’s direction and the suspenseful dialogue will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. Plus, it’s always fun to see a political thriller where no one gets away clean. And let’s be real, watching a thinly disguised Tony Blair get put through the wringer is pretty satisfying. Overall, The Ghost Writer is a good time and a solid addition to the genre.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros., Plan B Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group,
Distributor
Summit Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Rømø, Denmark
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for language, brief nudity/sexuality, some violence and a drug reference
Year of Release
2010
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 9m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 19, 2010 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 3, 2010
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, directed by Roman Polanski, written by Roman Polanski, Robert Harris, drama, PG-13, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Ed Koch, Andrew Sarris, Keith Uhlich, Sandra Hall, Sara Michelle Fetters, Stuart McGurk, Jason Best, Mike Massie, Sarah Boslaugh, Brian D Johnson, Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang, Ewan McGregor as The Ghost, Kim Cattrall as Amelia, Olivia Williams as Ruth Lang, Tom Wilkinson as Paul Emmett, Timothy Hutton as Sidney Kroll, produced by Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde
Worldwide gross: $60,331,447
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $82,013,756
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,114
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,943,703
US/Canada gross: $15,541,549
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $21,126,972
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,395
US/Canada opening weekend: $183,009
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $248,780
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,596
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $45,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $61,172,393
Production budget ranking: 663
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $32,941,334
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$12,099,971
ROI to date (est.): -13%
ROI ranking: 1,464
Ewan McGregor – The Ghost
Kim Cattrall – Amelia
Olivia Williams – Ruth Lang
Tom Wilkinson – Paul Emmett
Timothy Hutton – Sidney Kroll
Director(s)
Roman Polanski
Writer(s)
Roman Polanski, Robert Harris
Producer(s)
Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde
Film Festivals
Berlin
Awards & Nominations
33 wins & 56 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (210) | Top Critics (61) | Fresh (177) | Rotten (33)
This isn’t a great film. You won’t carry it around in your heart for years to come… But it’ll keep you with it right to the very end, which has to be worth something. It may even be worth quite a lot.
August 30, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
The dialogue and suspense created by director Polanski are first rate. You will enjoy this film.
January 13, 2018
Ed Koch
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
In the total context of Polanski’s hard life and grim ordeals … The Ghost Writer constitutes a miracle of artistic and psychological resilience.
June 20, 2013
Andrew Sarris
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Polanski has made a genre piece with a verve and vitality that’s in sadly short supply.
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Keith Uhlich
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
It is good to see Polanski exercising his gift for the sinister. It’s a spooky world he evokes here but its architecture doesn’t hang together, which is a great pity.
August 9, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
But for fans of the auteur able to separate his personal life from his cinematic one, and for others open to old-school suspense where no one gets away clean and failure truly is an option, this political whirligig delivers the goods.
April 29, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
It’s the kind of film that comes along all too rarely, and you find yourself hoping it won’t be his last.
May 19, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Stuart McGurk
NME
Watching Blair’s thinly disguised surrogate get put through the wringer in The Ghost is probably the closest we’ll ever get to see him face retribution for his follies and crimes.
November 29, 2020
Jason Best
Movie Talk
Perhaps the most prominent interest in the film will be for the controversy Polanski has gotten himself into in his personal life.
November 29, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
…succeeds both as a popcorn movie and as a work of political criticism…
December 30, 2019 | Rating: 7/10
Sarah Boslaugh
TheArtsStl
It’s an overripe conspiracy thriller knotted with an unlikely twist. But it’s certainly compelling enough. The suspense is taut. Riding this hairpin narrative with McGregor at the wheel is a lot of fun.
July 23, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
A good, old-fashioned suspense yarn that culminates with one of the most haunting final shots in years.
June 7, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mattie Lucas
The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)…
Plot
An unremarkable ghost-writer has landed a lucrative contract to redact the memoirs of Adam Lang, the former UK Prime Minister. After dominating British politics for years, Lang is campaigning for his foundation with his wife in the USA. He lives on an island, in luxurious, isolated premises complete with a security detail and a secretarial staff. Soon, Adam Lang gets embroiled in a major scandal with international ramifications that reveals how far he was ready to go in order to nurture UK’s “special relationship” with the USA. But before this controversy has started, before even he has closed the deal with the publisher, the ghost-writer gets unmistakable signs that the turgid draft he is tasked to put into shape inexplicably constitutes highly sensitive material.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about The Ghost Writer.
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