Read between the lies.
The performances are very good, particular the leads. Ewan McGregor is very good, Pierce Brosnan is particularly persuasive in the Tony Blair-alike PM role, and Olivia Williams, as the PM's wife, is very credible.
There's nothing that particularly marks the film out, stylistically, as the vision of any one particular film-maker. The story is pretty good, but the tone is a bit flat, a bit lacking in a sense of suspense for the first half, though it livens up considerably in the second half. There are some delightful twists to the story, and a particularly wonderful final twist.
But the most surprising twist of all comes after the final frame, as the credits began to roll: a film by Roman Polanski! Who would have thought? I'd forgotten who the director was, and was surprised, shocked even, that this entertaining but rather pedestrian genre piece was made by the auteur who brought moody shockers like Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Cul-de-sac and the great stylistic tour de force of Chinatown. And written by Robert Harris (Fatherland, Enigma).
- Rating: Matinee
- When seen: 5 Feb 2011
- Where seen: Home
- More information: IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Wikipedia
Amendments: Added writer tag: "Robert Harris"; actor tags: "Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, James Belushi, Eli Wallach". Removed link to Wikipedia-sourced image. Added ranking image.
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