The Lodger is an 2009 mystery

Mystery film

Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...

/thriller film directed by David Ondaatje and starring Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

, Hope Davis

Hope Davis

Hope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....

 and Simon Baker

Simon Baker

Simon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS television series The Mentalist.-Early life:...

. It is based on the novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, filmed previously by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927, by Maurice Elvey in 1932

The Lodger (1932 film)

The Lodger is a British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan and Jack Hawkins. It is based on the novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, also filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927, by John Brahm in 1944, as Man in the Attic directed by Hugo Fregonese,...

, by John Brahm in 1944

The Lodger (1944 film)

The Lodger is a 1944 horror film about Jack the Ripper, based on the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Laird Cregar, features Sir Cedric Hardwicke and was directed by John Brahm from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon.Lowndes' story had previously...

, and as Man in the Attic

Man in the Attic

Man in the Attic is a 1953 mystery film directed by Hugo Fregonese. It was released in the United States on December 23 by Twentieth Century Fox...

(1953) directed by Hugo Fregonese

Hugo Fregonese

Hugo Fregonese was an Argentine film director who worked both in Hollywood and in Argentina....

.

Plot

The film follows two parallel storylines, one being about a troubled detective (Molina) who plays a cat-and-mouse game with an unknown killer, and the other being about an emotionally disturbed landlady and her relationship with her enigmatic "lodger" (Simon Baker).

Cast

Storyline 1:

• Alfred Molina
  Alfred Molina
  Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
  
   as Chandler Manning, the troubled detective
• Rachael Leigh Cook
  Rachael Leigh Cook
  Rachael Leigh Cook is an American actress, known for her role in the romantic comedy She's All That and her This is Your Brain on Drugs public service announcement.-Early life:...
  
   as Amanda, his daughter
• Mel Harris
  Mel Harris
  Mel Harris is an American actress.-Personal life:Harris was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the daughter to Mary Michael "Mike", a high school science teacher, and Warren Harris, a university football coach...
  
   as Margaret, his wife
• Shane West
  Shane West
  Shane West is an American actor, musician and songwriter. West is best known for portraying Eli Sammler in Once and Again, Landon Carter with Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember, Darby Crash in What We Do Is Secret, and Dr...
  
   as Street Wilkenson, his rookie partner
• Philip Baker Hall
  Philip Baker Hall
  -Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor...
  
   as the Police Chief
• Lancer Dean Shull as the Internal Affairs Officer who suspends Chandler Manning from his duties.

Storyline 2:

• Hope Davis
  Hope Davis
  Hope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
  
   as Ellen Bunting, the emotionally disturbed landlady
• Donal Logue
  Donal Logue
  Donal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
  
   as Joe Bunting, her husband
• Simon Baker
  Simon Baker
  Simon Baker is an Australian actor. Since 2008, he has starred in the CBS television series The Mentalist.-Early life:...
  
  as Malcolm Slaight, the mysterious stranger who become their "lodger"

Release

The film premiered on January 23, 2009 in limited release in New York and Los Angeles, and was released on DVD on February 10, 2009.