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I will say that The Lodger kept my attention to the very end and that I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. But most of the story line in the middle was your typical old crime mystery.

Simon Baker plays a mysterious and quirky good looking stranger who knocks on Hope Davis's door in answer to an add for a ROOM FOR RENT sign. Of course Hope Davis takes Simon's cash advance of three months rent and accepts the good lucking Simon Baker as her new tenant.

The mutilated murders of streetwalkers start appearing in a similar fashion of the murders that took place seven years earlier. These previous murders were thought to have ended when Detective Chandler Manning played by Alfred Molina arrested the presumed guilty suspect that was put to death seven years earlier. Now the movie viewers realize that Detective Chandler (Alfred Molina) put away the wrong guy for the crimes.

So the viewers have a few suspects to consider who may be committing these recent murders of streetwalkers that appear to be duplicating the documented murders of the notorious Jack the Ripper. I was not impressed with Alfred Molina's performance as the lead detective Chandler Manning. What kept my interest in the film was the interactions between the lonely and disturbed performance of the landlord played by Hope Davis and her new lodger played quite well by Simon Baker.

Of course no suspense film is complete unless the lead detective is suspended from his position in the biggest case in Los Angeles history for his inability to solve the case. Will he be vindicated? Well for me I just did not feel Alfred Molina was convincing enough as the dejected lead detective, whose daughter and wife were also turning their back on their father and husband respectively.

Without spoiling the ending I will say that I found the ending to have a few twists in it that I expected and some twists that I was not expecting. I rated the film a 5 out of 10 because the plot was generally predictable and Alfred Molina's performance as the lead detective a bit disappointing. If not for a strong performance by Hope Davis and Simon Baker the film would have my thumbs down. I give THE LODGER one thumb UP!

Serial killers will always be popular because there is a human fascination with the lurid, the sexual and the violent. They epitomize fear, and when making a movie about a copycat serial killer, who better to imitate than the most notorious serial killer of all time, Jack the Ripper? "The Lodger" represents the fourth version of the book by Marie Belloc Lowndes, including one directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself. Although it's nowhere near as good as anything the Master of Suspense put out, it is nonetheless an engaging and twisty mystery.

There are two stories that are at the center of the film, and as the story goes on, they become entwined. First is the story of two detectives, Chandler Manning (Alfred Molina) and Street Wilkensen (Shane West) who are on the trail of a killer who is imitating Jack the Ripper in West Hollwood. Second is the story of a landlady, Ellen Bunting (Hope Davis) who is curious about her new tenant, the attractive but aloof Malcolm (Simon Baker). There are a few subplots thrown in for good measure, but really, these are the only ones that matter.

Actually, that's the film's biggest problem. Writer/director David Ondaatje pads the film out, particularly in the first hour. While this helps camouflage the story's red herrings, the subject matter he includes is rather dull. The soundtrack is also uneven. For the most part, it's a solid and effective homage to the creepy music that one always finds in these sorts of movies. However, there are times when it doesn't work, and instead becomes, of all things, melodramatic! The acting is good all around, though. The cast is predominantly made up of character actors on the edge of stardom. Alfred Molina has worked his way up the ladder for the past 25 years, and is just now earning the top-billing he so justly deserves. Manning is a hard boiled detective with a temper. Molina is no Sam Spade, but I'm glad that the producers took a chance on casting an unusual choice, because Molina is always interesting. His co-star, Shane West, tries to shed his bad-boy image, and while no standout, he's not bad. Indie film favorite Hope Davis is also making headway into mainstream fare, and she's terrific as the mousy Ellen. This was clearly a chance for Simon Baker to cash in on his popularity from his show, "The Mentalist." I haven't seen that, but he caught my attention in the underrated "The Affair of the Necklace." Baker is excellent as the seductive lodger; we can see his soft-spoken charm, but there is always an aura of danger around him, and we can never fully trust him. Also on hand are the always reliable Philip Baker Hall, Rebecca Pigeon (aka Mrs. David Mamet) and Donal Logue (who, like West, is an ER alum). Hall and Pigeon are solid, if underused, but Logue is flat as Ellen's jerk husband.

The film is always interesting to look at. Most noirs of this ilk used black and white film to their advantage, but this is 2009, and the film has to make money (which is surprising coming from an indie film). However, Ondaatje uses the color to his advantage. The noir feeling is still there, but it has an interesting feeling of warmth. And I loved how he and his cinematographer David A. Armstrong filmed the rain; it's just like the golden oldies.

It may not be Hitchcock, but this mystery is still pretty good. We don't know the true identity of the killer until the end, and while there are two main suspects, we also know that we can't rule anyone else out either, which makes things more interesting. And for a movie with no CGI, it's always interesting to look at. And watch.

Jack the Ripper continues yielding many remakes and related fictional movies like this, are countless until now and growing, The Lodger is based on the book of Marie Belloc Lowndes who wrote it in 1913 exposing an alleged theory that a London's landlady had rent a room to heinous serial killer, who already had took to the large screen by the master Hitchcock in 1927 as silent movie, upon this premise the director David Ondaatje built up an intricate and so complex screenplay to translate to Los Angeles's district nowadays the newest Jack the Ripper, stuffed of sterling actors as the British Alfred Molina, the pretty Hope Davis, the veteran Philip Baker Hall, the newbie Shane West and the Australian Simon Baker as the Lodger, it's a thriller movie, just displaying the misdeeds in succinct way, few drops of blood are shown implicitly, the modus operandi also follows the steps in chronological order of British Slasher at small district West Hollywood whereby has a sameness of the Whitechapel Londoner, starting with Ellen Bunting (Hope Davis) and his drunkard odd husband Bunting (Donal Logue), due they have financial problems she rents an outside room to the smooth outsider Malcolm (Simon Baker) who require strict privacy, meantime appears many butchered corpses of prostitutes on the district, the Inspector Chandler Manning (Alfred Molina) in charge of the inquiry who had in the past a resembling case, meanwhile Ellen has been involved sexually with the young Lodger, his bad temper husband also has a suspicious behavior as well, then the smart director puts several potential suspects including the weird Inspector Chandler Manning, who are in trouble with his wife on collapse breakdown at hospital in recovery, calls attention of his newcomer partner Street Wilkenson (Shane West), scored by a splendorous opera music the movie flows easy, by the way utterly underrated !!

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First watch: 2021 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

When a prostitute is found slain in West Hollywood, the veteran Detective Chandler Manning (Alfred Molina) investigates the case with his rookie partner Street Wilkenson (Shane West). Manning is facing a domestic problem with his wife that had had a nervous breakdown and is interned in an institution and his daughter that blames him for the situation of her mother. Meanwhile, the unstable and disturbed housewife Ellen Bunting (Hope Davis) and her frequently absent husband Bunting (Donal Logue) are facing financial problems and need to rent a guest house in the backyard. When the mysterious writer Malcolm Slaight (Simon Baker) rents the house, Bunting never sees the lodger and believes his wife is fabricating the tenant and her family has given the money to them. When a second hooker is found dead on the street, Manning concludes that the killer is copycatting the crimes of Jack the Ripper and is the same serial-killer that had murdered other streetwalkers seven years ago. Further, he concludes that the criminal Alonzo Rodriguez was wrongly sentenced to death for the murders.

When I decided to watch "The Lodger", my expectation was low and I expected to see a conventional thriller full of clichés. Fortunately I was wrong and I had a great surprise. This low-budget film has a good story and screenplay that keeps the mystery until the very last scene. There are subplots only to create diversion to the viewer and keep the mystery of the identity of the killer. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Inquilino" ("The Lodger")

I would say The Lodger is a good mystery/thriller but only for television. Just relax in front of the telly and try to figure out what is happening. I thought I had it figured out after twenty minutes but I was wrong and that is what I like about mystery/thrillers. The actors are okay in their roles. They might not be the best actors ever but they are certainly worth a watch. There are enough turns and twists to keep you guessing in what's going on. Some people might think there are too many but I thought it was fine. I was only a bit disappointed at the end. I thought it was just a bit too confusing. But other then that The Lodger is an okay movie to watch once or if you have nothing else to do.