When I decided to watch this movie I was expecting another brilliant colourful and authentic Asian history movie with some amazing fight scenes but it came out that this movies is quite odd and didn't meet my expectations. Let's talk about the storyline first.

A silent swordsman kills Lady Renko for no obvious reason in the beginning after a strange and quite long traditional celebration. Instead of getting condemned to death, he gets isolated for one year in a dark but still quite smart house in the emperor's garden. His niece is bringing him a reduced portion of supper every day.

The movie becomes then a little bit complicated because it switches from the present to the past all the time in a disturbing manner. The movies shows us how the emperor got under the influence of Lady Renko, his first concubine. She took brutal decisions in the place of her master. That lead to a conflict with Lord Obiya and the population as the easily-corrupted Lord Ukyou raised the taxes and wanted to do some work on an ancient temple.

Meanwhile, the niece Rio is creating a beautiful garden and takes care of her uncle. She gets devoted to him but he wants her to get away during the troubles surrounding the death of Lady Renko to find a husband. But Rio had already been married before and lived a very negative experience and she falls in love with her uncle.

Then, the movie suddenly gets really weird. Uncle and niece fall heavily in love. The uncle wants the niece to quit and promises her to meet her later. The niece has become pregnant. The uncle and silent swordsman Sanzaemon gets liberated and becomes strangely Lord Ukyou's bodyguard. But there is still a tension between them as Lord Ukyou doesn't want to see the face of the killer of his concubine and communicates with him through a curtain. Another person of Lord Ukyou's kingdom suddenly learns that Sanzeamon is a skilled swordsman and is able to use the famous "Sword of desperation" strike. Sanzaemon gets used to protect Lord Ukyou from the angry Lord Obiya.

Then comes the most interesting part of the movie, the sword fight scene between Sanzaemon and Obiya which the legendary swordsman wins. But suddenly, he is accused to have gone mad and killed Lord Obiya without permission and out of the blue. Lord Ukyou wants to get rid of him and orders to kill him to finally avenge the life of his beloved concubine Lady Renko. Sanzaemon fights like a maniac against an army of bodyguards but is slowly getting more and more hurt until a bodyguard seems to kill him with an unexpected attack in the back. He is declared dead but then suddenly rises up one last time and uses his "Sword of desperation" to kill the traitor, one of the lord's councils before he really dies. Meanwhile, Rio is waiting for her uncle in the village and doesn't know anything about his death yet in the end.

Now, let's talk about the positive points. First of all, this movie shows us some really beautiful and artistically images of the fight scenes, cultural events or simply landscapes. The director had a perfect eye for every single detail. Another good point is the two fight scenes in the ending of the movie. Especially the second one shows in a very intense way the slow and painful battle that Sanzaemon can only lose. It is a very positive point that he is not shown as a brilliant fighter but as a despaired man that is trying to survive at all costs.

On the other side, the movie already starts really slow paced and demands a lot of patience. Beautiful images and silent characters are accepted but if all characters almost seem to work that way, than I must list this as a lack of this movie. The main character is well conceived without a doubt. There is a sort of mystery surrounding him but the other characters are rather ordinary and one doesn't really care about their fates. I didn't get at all into this movie by its characters but only by its beautiful images and the fight scenes in the last thirty minutes. What is really disturbing the flow and the pleasure to watch this flick are all the time changes between the past and the present. In the beginning, when this element is used for the first two times, two men are talking about the event in a bar in the present and this context is understandable but suddenly the two men disappear and the time changes continue. In the beginning I didn't get a sense into the whole story. It is very difficult to understand why Sanzaemon killed, how he is punished and why he is finally avenged as those behaviours don't seem quite logically to a neutral watcher. The relationship between uncle and niece is only credibly played from the devoted niece's point of view while (the only time that a second actor is convincing and doing a very good job) while the behaviour of her uncle seems unreal and emotionless and at the other hand too crazy and pervert for such a silent man. I am sure that the director or writer of the screenplay worked all of this out in a very detailed way but to me those events seem to be a little bit random if not some plot holes. The movie would have needed a few more explications and a more emotional acting to transmit the message credibly.

All in all, this movie is interesting for those that like Asian culture, the cinema as a photographic art and slow paced dramas. Those who expect a great history flick, a martial arts movie or simply an intense story about vengeance and forbidden love will soon be disappointed. You really must be patient and attentive while you watch this movie.

I was really looking forward to watch this movie. I thought that the story could be interesting. I think that Roman Polanski is normally a great director and has done some masterpieces like "The pianist". Pierce Brosnan is a actor with whom I have grown up as he played the role of "James Bond 007" in four decent movies. Ewan McGregor has also played in some very good movies like the last three "Star Wars" epics. And finally, there was the great Eli Wallach, one of my very favourite actors of all times, who played a little role in this movie. Everything seemed to be prepared for an interesting movie.

What I got to see was a slow paced movie with a horribly weak Pierce Brosnan, a suspense less story line with a boring and not at all touching twist and many plot holes. I give the three stars for the role of Eli Wallach who really shows us a great acting in only one little minute and was able to put a smile on my face, for the interesting and decently dark atmosphere and the nice landscapes.

Now, let's get to the most negative points, the plot holes or things that really annoyed me throughout the whole movie:

1. From the beginning on it is really obvious that the previous ghostwriter got murdered. This leads us to two problems. The reactions and the acting by Ewan McGregor who even accepts the deal after almost being killed are completely unbelievable and stupid and second the suspense of the whole movie is already killed from the beginning on.

2. How can the ghostwriter simply get in and out with the manuscript while the whole bungalow is a highly secured area with professional checkpoints, guardians etc.?

3. Why did nobody thought about having a look at the old ghostwriter's room who had left many hints and evidences that could have easily been found by anybody? Everybody tries to keep a secret and does many complicated things to keep a big lie alive but the nurse hasn't had the time to take an attentive look in the room of a murdered ghostwriter who knew too much?

4. Why did nobody check out the car which the ghostwriters use? It would have only taken one minute to discover that there was a really big hint to discover. Everybody tries in a decent way to hide some secrets and takes incredible risks but the most easiest and obvious things are not properly done or forgotten.

5. The ghostwriter gets hunted by two professional killers who are able to make him think that they have lost his trace to suddenly appear again. The same two professional men get then completely dumped like school kids by blindly running around a ship and forget about systematically control the only possible exit on the ferry so that the ghostwriter can easily escape.

6. After the escape from the killers, the ghostwriter goes without any haze to the next motel, checks in and calls a stranger to whom he confesses everything and whom he wants to meet at his hotel room. This is could have been absolutely naive suicide and is not at all an appropriate behaviour after having been chased by two professional killers right before.

7. Eli Wallach as an old vineyard man gives a very interesting hint and good conspiracy story line before the whole hunting scene. Something new and interesting could have been build around this but the director just lost this option so that this scene gets completely unnecessary to the whole movie. There are many scenes like this. Why are they included if they offer some interesting new possible solutions or fresh changes but are not further developed then?

8. The whole relationship between the ghostwriter and the politician's wife is nonsense. No one would take such a high risk and if someone would then it might be because of an incredible passion or love story, but there is no sexual tension or attraction at all between the two actors. The whole thing feels unreal.

9. The ending is completely naive and random. I don't want to tell you to much but the ghostwriter acts in the most stupid way and the final scene could just not have been logically planned by anyone.

10. The twist and the main idea of the movie is quite impossible and random. As if someone would have been able to take a look that far in the future and as if a politician would really have been that easy to predict and understand. And if someone has such a high influence why do not prevent some ghostwriters to get in touch with some secrets?

Those are just ten points that I remember one month after having watched this movie. I have just seen it once and I will surely not watch it again. If I would do it, I would surely discover even more nonsense plot holes and unnecessary scenes and normally, I am not somebody who easily discovers plot holes or focuses on goofs when I watch a movie for the first time. And if I am able to create already a list with eight points, then there might be people who would be able to do a more precise and better job then me.

I'm just completely disappointed about this movie. Everything was so promising and the result is a boring, slow paced and illogical flick. I can't believe that this movie got such a high rating here, people must be blind and influenced by the well sounding names that participate in and around the movie.

This is definitely the worst movie of the year 2010 (at least!) and I have seen a lot in this year in the cinemas.

I know Patrick Huard as a great and funny actor like in "Good cop, bad cop" and I was looking forward to see his work as a director in a comedy movie involving the story of three unfortunate police officers.

I was very disappointed to see that this movie wasn't funny at all. I was disappointed to see that it took a lot of time before the movie started to get interesting and before the main story finally got in after many minutes of random and boring surveillance and everyday life scenes.

And then finally, after I had finally accepted that this movie was no comedy or action movie, I began to appreciate it. The force of the movie are the three well played and crazy main characters. Three outsiders, three losers who are suffering personal problems and mental illness and who have nothing left to loose anymore. The movie becomes then a very interesting, detailed and insightful movie about the personal struggles of those three characters in some sad, some despaired but also some hopeful and amusing scenes. You don't care about the fact that the ending is predictable or that most parts of the movie are just not funny and somehow random because of the great acting, especially by Claude Legault and Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge. This is a movie about the struggles of life and how to live with them. This movie could have been an excellent drama if the director haven't tried to put some forced and annoying jokes and a boring and random main storyline in it that doesn't really touch you.

That's why this movie, even if you don't get what you expect, is still watchable and interesting from an artistic, dramatical and philosophical point of view. Now, with this warning, you might be able to appreciate this movie and get a less bad surprise than I had and you might even like this movie more than I do from a more objective point of view.

I watched this movie when I was on an Air Canada flight this summer and though it was warm and the atmosphere in the air plane wasn't the best, I got totally absorbed by this movie. It is a really intense horror drama without anything supernatural, without any special effects and without an excellent budget. This movie is about three young and crazy young adults who are living the nightmare of their lives.

It was a risk to build up a film on the acting of three rather unknown actors but it was worth trying it as this idea works very well. The actors play in a really realistic and credible way and the personalities are in perpetual development throughout the movie. They start as three immature tween friends who are enjoying life and having fun and become philosophical and frightened adults who are trying to survive. The only negative point about the scenario is that the three actors had maybe a little bit too many dialogues and that the introduction could have been cut off a little bit but at least three quarters of the movie are really intense and atmospheric.

Many people complain about goofs in the movie and how the characters are making errors but the first thing isn't really disturbing or important and the second point is absolutely realistic. The actors are young and nervous and don't take the best choices to try to survive but it such a situation of extreme danger and tension this is absolutely normal and makes this movie much more credible. The personalities are three folks taken out of the everyday life and no intelligent and cool heroes.

The movie doesn't need any special effects as the images are heavily enough without it and there are a few really shocking and disgusting moments in this movie that even impress horror movie fans like me. The director did some really great shoots throughout the whole movie.

To conclude, I really appreciated the movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes movie that play in nature or in isolated places and to anyone who likes realistic and tension filled dramas or slow paced horror movies.

When I heard about a modern past-war movie that would settle in destroyed and desperate Germany that was turned in intense black and white images and would include actors like George Clooney, I was really looking forward to this movie. Well, I guess I expected a little bit too much.

The story has surely some interesting points and is also quite realistic, but somehow very difficult to follow. The actors mostly play without any emotions, especially George Clooney is doing a horribly weak job and the cold-hearted and not very credible Cate Blanchett isn't much better. Only Tobey Maguire as a hectic, emotional and unexperienced military guy who falls in love with a mysterious German "femme fatale" does a convincing job.

Another minor detail that personally annoyed me is the fact that most of the actors that are trying to speak German are doing a horrible job, especially Cate Blanchett is not very easy to understand. As a native speaker I know that German is a very difficult language, but this film wants desperately be as atmospheric, precise and realistic as possible, so the actors should have had the help of some good German teachers for the few dialogues they do in German. The Gemran dialogues seem because of this lack of professionalism almost inaudible and silly.

From an aesthetic point of view, the movie has a great atmosphere because it is turned in black and white what fits to the desperate and dark situation after the war and some camera shootings are also well done and directed. But this is sadly not enough to make this slow-paced and emotionless movie entertaining enough, even for a German or someone who is interested in history like me.

To keep it short, the images and the atmosphere of the movie are well done, but the story and the acting could have been way better.