A Pale Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer has Ewan McGregor doing his finest accidental detective since Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace. The Scottish star is enjoyable as always, but neither he nor co-stars Pierce Brosnan and Kim Cattrall stand a chance of rescuing the film's paper-thin plot from an ugly demise.

I know, it's cinema legend Roman Polanski directing a story by bestselling thriller author Robert Harris. That should be enough to guarantee a strong story. But the plot is full of glaring holes, the ending is completely implausible, and I found myself not caring one way or another whether Brosnan's central character lived or died. Ghost Writer is a whodunnit thriller where hero McGregor never meant to solve a crime and every clue is delivered by deus ex machina. Even then, the dots never connect.

As much as I wanted to like this movie, Ghost Writer left me disappointed in a lot of people who really should have done better. McGregor nearly gets off the hook for his engaging performance, but he should have turned this script down altogether.

2 stars out of 5, and that's because I'm feeling generous today.