The Ghost Writer

Pleasantly surprised. Reminded me of something Hitchcock, the way it gradually builds up suspense to tell an engaging story.

A modern update of a classic Hitchcock type film. It’s very meticulously edited and directed, and I like how every character is ever so slightly offbeat, it makes the film that much more mysterious. There’s a great sense of place and atmosphere, which is often heightened by the score. In fact, I think it’d make a great double feature with _Shutter Island_ just based on the vibe alone. The mystery is intriguing and tense, but also predictable and obvious at times. Moreover, it gets increasingly schlockier and far fetched as it goes along, so much so that it was asking me to take leaps I didn’t want to take as a viewer. Some of the pay-offs are very silly and unsatisfying. It’s also generally just too conventional of a story, it’d probably be more memorable if it had a stronger subtext, because as it stands it’s nothing more than a mediocre crowdpleaser. 5/10