From a master of the noir, Roman Polanski, comes one of the best in a long while. Ewan McGregor is a ghost writer, that guy that makes autobiographies read better, in way over his head. He has just taken a job writing out the life of the fictional former british prime minister played with perfect arrogance by Peirce Brosnan. The last ghost writer met an untimely death - murder/suicide/accident, it doesnt really matter. There are things going on in the former P.M.'s life better left unpublished. As McGregor traces his predecessor's footsteps he realizes the fat sum of money he was promised for this book is not worth it.

Unfortunately Roman Polanski was unable to assist with the post production on this film due to his well deserved incarceration, but the movie doesnt seem to have suffered much from it. They say that writing a great movie is easy, but writing so that the film-makers can't screw it up is the hard part. Its obvious that Roman Polanski was able to get all the necessary elements on film so that post production couldnt really screw it up.

I had two complaints: Kim Catrall cast as Pierce Brosnan's executive assistant. Her performance, although not necessarily bad, was totally subpar for the rest of the cast. Her agent should ask for a bigger percentage. And the reveal, while fun to arrive at was not a total shocker.

The high points are Ewan McGregor and the cinematography.

4.25 stars, worth a theater visit especially if you like a good mystery.