Roman Polanski: “Whatever, haters. I’ma do me.” (A review of “Ghost Writer”)
SPOILER ALERT - By the end of this post, I will have totally ruined the ending of this movie.
Anyone who has been lucky enough to sit through a successful long-form improv set will tell you; few theater experiences can measure up to the satisfaction of predicting a move, moments before a performer nails it in the scene. It’s a big ol’ back scratch for the intellect, to feel that are you engaged in the performance enough to be on the exact same page as the players (possibly even ahead of them, which can happen as often as not…). Now imagine that feeling, but instead of the immediate satisfaction of having your predictions realized on stage, that pleasure coming 30+ minutes after you first suspect that you “know something.” That’s what it felt like to watch “Ghost Writer.” In this case, the main prediction was that the main character, Ewan MacGregor was going to be dead by the end. Granted, this fact was overly-foreshadowed throughout the film. But what made it so satisfying is the simple fact that it happened. And in such straightforward way.
