Talia Shire whines her way through this extremely routine psycho-thriller, playing the role of Melanie Leroy. Melanie is a mousy middle-aged woman who catches her husband in the act of cheating on her. Later, she successfully poisons him and then goes about trying to live a new life. She decides to take on the job of managing an apartment building that she inherited. One of the tenants she meets is Patrick Forman (Jack Coleman), a hunky nice guy social services worker. She fixates on him, convinced that it's their destiny to be together, and methodically eliminates everybody who stands in the way of her happiness.
We've all seen countless movies like this one, and "The Landlady" brings absolutely nothing new to a tired stalker-melodrama plot. It's not badly made or anything, it's just painfully predictable from beginning to end, showing not the slightest hint of imagination. The main reason it might make anybody curious is to see Shire in a leading, antagonistic role. She never has been a great actress, but at least it looks like she is relishing this moment in the spotlight.
The rest of the actors & actresses are basically adequate, no more and no less. Coleman is a decent enough object of affection, and does take off his top for those who are interested. At least TV veteran Bruce Weitz ('Hill Street Blues') offers a fair amount of amusement as an amiable handyman who occasionally talks to himself, but who is also no dummy, and ultimately smells a rat. Courtney Gains of "Children of the Corn" is barely in the picture as another of the tenants.
Very mild gore and very mild profanity (there are a couple of F bombs near the end) make this barely passable as the kind of thing you'd usually see on cable television.
Supposedly based on a Roald Dahl story.
Five out of 10.
