The Ghost Writer

2010
G
2h 8m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

174K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:11

Political Thriller Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A ghostwriter uncovers a dark secret while working on the memoirs of England's former Prime Minister.A ghostwriter uncovers a dark secret while working on the memoirs of England's former Prime Minister.A ghostwriter uncovers a dark secret while working on the memoirs of England's former Prime Minister.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

174K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,784

654

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 34 wins & 57 nominations total

John Maddox
(as James Belushi)

Timothy Hutton

Sidney Kroll

Anna Botting

SKY TV Newsreader

Yvonne Tomlinson

Stewardess

Milton Welsh

Taxi Driver

Alister Mazzotti

Protection Officer #1

Tim Faraday

Barry

Kim Cattrall

Amelia Bly

Kate Copeland

Alice

Soogi Kang

Lee Hong Thay

John Keogh

Protection Officer #2

Hans-Peter Sussner

Protection Officer #3

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The end title designer forgot to use punctuation when writing the end credits. This resulted in all assistants being listed as "ass designer" or "ass painter" etc.

Goofs
Ruth's accent changes randomly between very English posh and slightly Estuary (lower-class). This could be a clue that she has had to 'improve' her accent as she has ascended Lang's ladder and finds it difficult, as English people do, to keep up the pretence, especially at times of emotional stress.

Quotes
Adam Lang: Spare me the bleeding-heart bullshit! Do you know what I'd do if I was in power again? I'd have two queues at airports: one for flights where we'd done no background checks, infringed on no one's civil bloody liberties, used no intelligence gained by torture. And on the other flight we'd do everything we possibly could to make it perfectly safe. And then we'd see which plane the Rycarts of this world would put their bloody kids on! And you can put that in the book!

Crazy credits
There are no opening credits. The title and cast list do not appear until after the last scene of the movie.

Alternate versions
US version was cut for language to secure a PG-13 rating (the usage of the words "fuck" and "shit" was severely toned down).

Connections
Featured inSiskel & Ebert & the Movies: Valentine's Day/Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief/The Wolfman/Ajami (2010)

Soundtracks
Hatherton
Performed byDavid Majzlin
Courtesy of Toy Hanner Music (ASCAP)

User reviews464

Featured review

9/10

Polanski and McGregor, a wonderful match

Ewan McGregor gets rid of every ounce of glamour and allows his Polanskian character to emerge. I though, a few years ago, Polanski could have played him himself the way he played so beautifully in "The Tenant" Those two characters are not that far apart. Taking over an apartment or a job from someone who leaves the scene under very mysterious circumstances is practically the same thing. McGregor, however, is superb. In "The Ghost Writer" events play close to the knuckle. Who is Pierce Brosnan? Tony Blair? and Olivia Williams? Classic film-making at its best. Compelling and visually stunning. The score by Alexander Desplat reminded me of Bernard Herrman and the atmosphere is so thick that the film's 2 hours plus fly by at an amazing speed. Polanski at 77 doesn't show any signs of jadedness. He is in total control. Hurrah for that!