by: sprouticus
Posted on 01.19.10 in All Horror Films > Thriller/Suspense
Release Date: 2009

David Ondaatje’s first feature, The Lodger, is somewhat of an unfortunate undertaking. Even though it claims to be a modern adaptation of Marie Belloc Lowndes’ novel rather than a remake of the 1927 Hitchcock film, it is still treading on the same ground as the Master of Suspense and because of that there are certain expectations. Expectations that are sadly never met as a suspense film or even a film in general. Instead the story plods along trying to confuse the viewer, but each uninspired camera movement and line of dialogue makes it hard to care about anything that’s happening.

How big names like Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, and Simon Baker can turn in such boring and stilted performances is almost as baffling as how this film got a theatrical release, but somehow Ondaatje manages to suck all of the life out of his actors. Essentially a modern retelling of Jack the Ripper, Molina pretends to be a detective dealing with the trauma of a murder case that is reopened because he put the wrong man away. The goreless murders continue as the film shifts back and forth between the cops and a mentally unstable housewife that is falling for the mysterious man staying in her guest house.

That’s about it. Molina’s performance is so forced, it’s laughable, and Davis is not much better. West and Baker are only present to add a couple of pretty faces to the cast. I hope that the director watches a few more films and learns a thing or two about structure or how to construct a scene before he steps behind the camera again. He claims to be such a big fan of Hitchcock too, which I find hard to believe given the complete lack of suspense. The unreliable narrator gimmick only works  when you actually have a narrator and establish a perspective, not when you jump around between two stories that aren’t even connected until the last few minutes.

This film is further proof that Hitchcock remakes, whether they claim to be or not, are just a bad idea.

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall: