I'd almost forgotten that Roman Polanski fled the U.S. after a judge flubbed his trial for the 1977 rape of 13 year-old Samantha Geimer, and I'd never even heard about the 2008 documentary about the case. Geimer received (but didn't receive?) a settlement of a half-million dollars somewhere along the way and also appeared in the documentary.
In statements made to the press within the last couple of years she's reportedly said she's gotten over it and she wishes it would all just go away now. Aren't those somewhat contradictory statements? Anyway, I hardly ever believe what I read in the news. I mean, really. Except, maybe in an article in the NY Times.
I'd picked up the DVD of Polanski's latest, The Ghostwriter, and mainly because it's Hitchcock redux, I enjoyed it. It's simple, detailed, not appallingly graphic, but actually fairly subtle, and evocative of a cold war espionage era. Plus, it puts known actors in unexpected places.
I mean, really, Pierce Brosnan as a former British prime minister? I still think of him as a cat burglar or spy, but he has aged into this role. Kim Cattrall (Sex in the City) as the PM's closest aide? She's Samantha Jones redux a la film noir thriller. Ewan McGregor was the ghostwriter himself. That's a fun role, until the end, that is. I won't be a spoiler and tell you why.
The movie is just as fun to watch as an old Hitchcock thriller or something equally entertaining that is neither too dark or nasty. This could be family fare if it weren't that only baby boomers like movies this mild these days.
Polanski and novel/screenwriter Robert Harris sat down to watch Sunset Boulevard (1950), according to extra interview material on the DVD, and Polanski picked the Harris novel because it was so Raymond Chandler, he mentions.
What is he doing, anyway? Trying to redeem himself, finally? Or, acting his age? This might be a light-hearted film but I can't say I think he can ever cover the layers of murky shit that are the real stuff of his life. He can't make his misdeeds go away that easily. I'd say the gavel is still up on Roman Polanski.
Although I just joined Amazon Associates to try to make some token money from writing these reviews, I won't encourage you to buy this movie. Rent it for a buck if you must.
