Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Catrall, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Hutton, Jim Belushi and Eli Wallach among others are included in this cast. And overall, I'd say Polanski made the most of the fine cast.
This was quite a cleverly written story about an ex-British prime minister's life, the memoirs of his life that were to be published, what happened when a previous writer died in the process of writing them.
McGregor really pulls off the somewhat investigative journalist role, even though that is not what he is assigned-to or being paid to actually do. He stumbles upon the some critical photos under a drawer in the guestroom at the ex-prime minister's home, which the 1st/late writer Michael had come upon and hidden well and for good reason.
A whole unknown explanation as to how the ex-prime minister went into politics originally, his motivations and involvement with a not-known CIA agent and his wife's involvement is uncovered soon after. McGregor is found skating around corners, fearing for his life and still unclear about whose behind many different excursions he goes through.
A political thriller with a lot of suspense and finely twisted characters and their mysterious motivations is pulled off quite well. My only qualm would be how the ending didn't exactly give 100% closure. A couple of key characters are left not really facing the music, and McGregor's character is presumed to be quieted, but what's shown doesn't really let us know entirely what happens ultimately. A sequel could help, but I'd be skeptical if it would be worth doing or if it would actually happen. But so be it. A highly satisfying picture no matter.
90/100