Sunday, April 27, 2008
A+E, Movies, Reviews

The Visitor

‘The Visitor’ a welcome look at love and immigration

CREDIT: Courtesy of Overture Films
Richard Jenkins and Hiam Abbass in “The Visitor”

“THE VISITOR”
Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass
Directed by Tom McCarthy
Rated PG-13
Regal Tara 4 Cinema

Richard Jenkins, best known for dying in the first episode of “Six Feet Under,” gets the role of his lifetime in “The Visitor.” As Connecticut economics professor Walter Vale, who’s been going through the motions since the death of his wife, a successful classical pianist, Jenkins should finally rise out of the “Oh, look, there’s What’s His Name!” category.

Sent to an NYU conference, Walter pays a rare visit to his Manhattan apartment and finds two strangers, illegal immigrants Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) from Syria, and Zainab (Danai Gurira) from Senegal, who sublet the apartment from a scam artist. Walter takes pity on them and lets them stay. Walter bonds quickly with Tarek over a shared love of music. Tarek teaches him to play African drums, and soon they’re part of a drum circle in Washington Square Park.

What begins as a feel-good movie takes a darker turn when a misunderstanding leads to Tarek being arrested and his immigration status discovered. After not hearing from her son for several days, Tarek’s widowed mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass) comes looking for him. Now it’s her turn to bond with Walter, raising intriguing possibilities.

“The Visitor” has a similar sensibility, though less sentimentality, than “Under the Same Moon,” which also showed at least some “illegal immigrants” as human beings living responsible and productive, albeit technically criminal, lives in the U.S.

As in his other film, “The Station Agent,” filmmaker Tom McCarthy is concerned with people coming together and forming a de facto family under extraordinary circumstances. McCarthy revisits the theme with diminishing returns, following a great film with one that’s merely good. 3 STARS—Steve Warren