In West Hollywood, an area roughly the size off the Whitechapel area in London during the time of the Ripper murders, prostitutes are being murdered. Not only are they following the same pattern as the Jack the Ripper murders from over 100 years ago, they also strongly mimic a series of murders that took place some seven years before, although the man responsible for those deaths has since been executed. He was put away by Chandler Manning (Alfred Molina), who has more than his own share of problems since his wife tried to commit suicide and is now in the nut house and his daughter, Amanda (Rachael Leigh Cook), blames him. He gets placed squarely under the microscope when this new slew of murders starts occurring and as the bodies pile up, he finds himself a suspect and has to rely on his rookie partner, Street (Shane West), to solve the crime before the final murder is committed and the killer slips back into the shadows... maybe forever.
Meanwhile, in the same city, a married couple struggling with hard times is having a difficult time renting out their guest house, when a mysterious stranger sees the "for rent" sign and immediately says he'll take it. Only Ellen Bunting, and not her husband (Donal Logue, Max Payne), has seen Malcolm (Simon Baker, The Mentalist), who is a writer and who demands absolute privacy, wanting no one to disturb him at the guest house. Since Ellen and her husband seem to be on the rocks, this mystery man is just the spice Ellen needs in her life. He seems dangerous, yet intriguing, and Ellen begins a transformation from dowdy housewife to sensual ingenue. Could he be the killer? The audience is led down one path and then another, finally coming together in an ending that I must admit I suspected... and then everything shifts in the last 30 seconds of the movie and we are thrown for a loop.
I enjoyed The Lodger. I didn't love it, but I did like it. There was some really interesting camera work in the film, with some scenes being played at a fast pace, while others show a murder with the camera focused solely on the victim and murderer's feet. At some points, I felt like the movie was trying a bit too hard, but I don't fault it for that. The director, David Ondaatje, is a clear fan of Hitchcock, so I enjoyed the implied violence without each cut of the knife having to be shown. I also learned through watching the making-of that there were a number of nods to Hitchcock throughout the film, scenes filmed to mimic famous Hitchcock films. Cool stuff. Also included aside from the making-of were a handful of deleted and alternate scenes, which were okay to watch, but understandably cut from the film. Of special note is the last deleted scene which shows Ellen (Hope Davis) rocking in a chair with a body camera on, such that we rock with her. It was really cool and I almost wish it had been left in.
While The Lodger probably won't be one you watch again and again, if you like a good thriller, you should give it a rent.
