About wessingleton
Location: Irving TX
Occupation: Movie Critic/Financial Services/Corporate Trainer/Speaker
Bio: Wes Singleton is a part-time movie critic residing in Irving, TX. He has a variety of different hobbies and interests, including movies, writing and running. He works full-time at a large non-profit financial services company but his real passion is movies. He has his own website, www.moviereviewsbywes.com that provides an outlet for this passion.
Posts: 41
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Touching, low-key and funny, this is a Visitor you’ll want to stay awhile.
This Visitor is more than welcome to stay. Poignantly low-key, literate and executed well at nearly every turn, The Visitor is a small film with significant issues at stake. It leisurely marches to a familiar though relevant beat. A terrific movie, The Visitor delivers some unexpectedly touching and funny moments and those outside the mainstream Iron Man crowd this weekend should enjoy this fine independent film.
Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) is at the core of The Visitor. He plays bored university professor Walter Vale, longing for more than his dull life currently provides. The widowed Walter lives in a roomy Connecticut home alone. His late wife was a respected musician, a talent that Walter longs to have but can’t seem to attain himself. He doesn’t want others to know how bored he actually is, so he pretends to be busy. He’s sent to New York City to deliver a paper to some colleagues that he’s co-written and things begin to change for him.
Walter arrives at his apartment he keeps in New York City and unexpectedly finds a foreign couple, the Syrian-bred Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his girlfriend Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira) of Senegal living there, obviously the result of a real estate scam. He lets the couple stay there until they can find something and becomes drawn to them, especially Tarek and his talent for playing African drums. Longing for a talent, any talent for that matter, Walter gets lessons from Tarek, and he slowly develops his own affinity for playing the drums. However, things take a turn for the worse when Tarek is taken in by immigration officials and could be deported since both he and Zainab are both in the U.S. illegally. Walter does all he can to help his new friends in a very uncertain situation.
The Visitor was filmed on a modest scale, but delivers some sizably poignant moments. Character actor Jenkins, a familiar-faced actor you’ve seen through the years in mostly small or supporting TV and film roles, delivers a superb, understated performance that anchors the film well. The Visitor is also highlighted by first-rate, expert direction and writing from Thomas McCarthy, a character actor himself responsible for the splendid, underrated The Station Agent (2003).
Jenkins, in his first lead, is completely believable in a role perfect for the slightly unconventional looking actor. He gives subtle shades to Walter’s boredom and insecurities; the film’s best (and often funniest) moments come when Walter learns to play those African drums, slowly gaining confidence. His hands start out uncoordinated and choppy, yet smoother the more he handles the drums. The final yet brief and searing scene is a testament to how much Walter has changed from the start of the film.
Stellar supporting performances nicely compliment Jenkins lead role. Sleiman and Gurira make for a plausible couple, and Sleiman in particular is humorously touching as the outgoing Tarek. The Visitor’s loveliest performance comes from Israeli actress Hiam Abbass, as Tarek’s understandably concerned yet stoic mother. Her scenes with Jenkins give a nice glow to the film (especially when they go see The Phantom of the Opera).
The Visitor’s drawbacks are few. The pacing is too leisurely, and it suffers from a downbeat, familiar tone. Those expecting loads of action won’t find it here, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less involving. Indeed, the film is often slow-moving, and The Visitor isn’t a film of real power, either, but still relevant. Speaking of which, the immigration issues are not treated with a heavy-handed preachiness but more as reminders. One valuable lesson is that family, love and loyalty transcends cultural lines.
The Visitor’s last act is heartbreaking for many reasons, but you’ll most remember Jenkins’ Walter playing that African drum. He’s caught in a hard place where he’s focused turns to helping a friend but also helpless at the circumstances. When he finally breaks near the end, you’ll relate to his angry outburst.
The Visitor is a solid character study and quietly moving film about the value of friendships and family. I’d highly recommend it as a good alternative from the mainstream flicks this weekend, and you’ll be glad you made room for this Visitor.
