This is a review of the 2010 film Ghost Writer by Miles Mathis. The reviewer found the movie to be a “crushing review” and questioned the numerous positive reviews and awards it received, suggesting they might be fake. He criticizes the plot for being full of holes and illogical actions by the protagonist, Ewan McGregor, who plays a ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of a former Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan). The reviewer argues that the film’s poor script and the protagonist’s unbelievable stupidity are deliberate choices to promote a narrative that justifies CIA actions and historical events like the First Gulf War and post-9/11 renditions. He believes the film, and others like it, serve to legitimize and instill fear of the CIA, portraying it as an all-powerful entity that controls events. The review touches upon the film’s supposed inspiration from Robert Harris’s book, which was critical of Tony Blair and the CIA. The reviewer concludes that the film’s creators likely prioritized selling a particular historical and geopolitical narrative over plot coherence, and that the CIA itself, through its self-perception of power, inadvertently allows such films to be made and praised, revealing a lack of self-awareness.
Subjects, Names, References, Locations, Companies, etc.:
- Ghost Writer
- Miles Mathis
- September 11, 2020
- Youtube
- War Games
- Rotten Tomatoes
- Kyle Smith
- NYPost
- Roger Ebert
- International Federation of Film Critics
- European Film Awards
- Berlin Film Festival
- Gaudi Awards
- Globo d’oro
- Polish Film Awards
- Cesar Awards
- Roman Polanski
- Kim Cattrall
- Ewan McGregor
- Pierce Brosnan
- Martha’s Vineyard
- Louis CK
- BMW
- CIA
- MilkDuds
- Rycart
- Olivia Williams
- LaGuardia
- Robert Harris
- Tony Blair
- First Gulf War
- 11
- Guantanamo
- Saddam Hussein
- bin Laden
- Gaddafi
- Bush, Sr.
- US
- UK