Drama has also, and continues to, characterise Polanski’s personal life as he lives in self-imposed exile from the US following statutory rape charges in 1977.

So it is somewhat disappointing that The Ghost Writer is lacking that foreboding, dramatic tension that many would have expected.

Ewan McGregor is the ghost writer who is contracted to complete the memoirs of ex-British PM Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) following writer #1’s untimely demise. All is going swimmingly (unlike #1) until Lang is accused of compliance in the torture of terrorist suspects and faces criminal prosecution if he returns to Great Britain.

So begins McGregor’s delving into Lang’s past, initially as research for the book, but then in search of clues that may shed light on his predecessor’s death and the alleged links between Lang and the CIA. Marital friction between the Lang and the ex-First Lady are also thrown into the mix.

Based on the book of the same name by Robert Harris, The Ghost Writer is certainly topical: the similarities between Lang and Tony Blair are not difficult to spot, and the banishment from his adopted homeland also mirrors Polanski’s own personal situation, which saw Germany standing in for the film’s New England setting.

The set-up is promising, with the score, bleak windswept landscape and island setting creating a sense of isolation but after initially leading us down a path into the unknown, topical isn’t enough if the twists and turns are generally well-telegraphed and fail to surprise. And when arguably the most revelatory of those twists are exposed by two minutes on Google and some Da Vinci Code brainteasers it all seems just too easy.

The Ghost Writer is a competent enough thriller, but in failing to ratchet up the tension and differentiate itself from any number of other by-the-book films, it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity.