The Ghost Writer

City Paper Grade: B-

by Sam Adams

PIERCE BY PIERCE: A former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) is the most intriguing part of Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

[ City Paper Grade: B- ]

Clouded by, but completed before, Roman Polanski's recent arrest, the transposition of Robert Harris' novel is less intriguing for its protagonist, a jobbing journalist gamely played by Ewan McGregor, than for its central character, a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan) whose imminent memoirs may contain bombshells worth killing to conceal.

When human-rights charges are brought alleging that he delivered British subjects for extraordinary rendition (shades, none too subtle, of Tony Blair), the ex-P.M. suddenly finds himself confined to countries beyond the reach of the International Criminal Court, of which the U.S. is the most pleasant by far. Walled up in an island retreat whose concrete walls suggest a modernist bunker, he labors to tell his side of the story, a process that proves particularly dangerous to his anonymous co-scribe.

Even before he had reason to look over his shoulder, Polanski's work has been riddled with paranoia, although it's less intriguing when it turns out to be justified. As McGregor digs deeper into his subject's past, trying to rework the dull draft left by his mysteriously deceased predecessor, he finds about what you'd expect: strange cars shadowing him, data that don't add up, hints at subterranean alliances and backroom dealings. The metaphysical creepiness that underlies Polanski's best films (and even the not-so-good The Ninth Gate) is nowhere to be found.

Over and above its geopolitical resonances, the film is larded with references to Greek mythology — a house guarded by Cyclops Security, the "Penelopes and Jocastas" who populate British high society — but it still feels impersonal and remote, as if it were directed from deep underground. There are a few nifty twists on genre mechanics (especially a novel use for a dashboard GPS), but considering that it's been more than a decade since The Ninth Gate, you'd think Polanski would have had more in store.