Review: ‘The Visitor’

Thomas McCarthy is primarily an actor (Year of the Dog, Michael Clayton, The Wire TV series), but I am far more interested in his directorial work. McCarthy’s first film was The Station Agent (2003) which I think is a superb film. The Visitor is McCarthy’s second outing as a director and is also very good. The film stars Richard Jenkins (*) as Walter, a college professor who finds himself stuck in a rut of dissatisfaction with his life and career. He pretends to be busy with his classes and writing his new book, but in reality he is longing for something more, something different, something unknown.

When Walter is sent to a conference to present a paper he really doesn’t want to present, he begins an unexpected journey of purpose by mere chance. Walter finds a young couple occupying his New York apartment when he arrives after being away for many years. As it turns out, Tarek and Zainab were misinformed about the apartment’s true owner and have been living there as illegal immigrants for the past two months. Walter decides to allow them to stay a few nights until they find new residence. The story follows Walter as he quickly develops a strong friendship with Tarek, who teaches him to play African drums and becomes a passion for him, filling the void he has felt in his life.

At the critical turning point in the film, Walter witnesses Tarek arrested for being an illegal immigrant and makes it his responsibility to do whatever he can to free Tarek from the detention center. Walter’s life is ultimately changed by his knowing Tarek, Zainab and eventually Tarek’s mother who visits from Michigan to try and help her son. The Visitor is not just a commentary on the issue of illegal immigrants in the US, but is actually much more. McCarthy does a decent job of not dwelling on the political emphasis too much, instead developing a heart-felt and emotionally fulfilling story of a man who learns that things change when you get to actually know a person, making all the politics seem unimportant.

* A Brief Q&A with actor Richard Jenkins:

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During this special screening of The Visitor, actor Richard Jenkins was present after the film to speak with the audience promoting the film and offered a brief question and answer session. Jenkins offered some great background on himself and on the film, also sharing some great anecdotes from working with Jack Nicholson on the film The Witches of Eastwick. Jenkins emphasized his love of the script as the reason he did the film (and mentioned that McCarthy apparently wrote it “for” him) and expounded on the intimately personal story that is a reflection on how our attitudes change about issues when we actually know people going through difficult times. Jenkins has appeared as a popular supporting actor in many films, including Silverado, Hannah and Her Sisters, Wolf, Absolute Power, Me Myself & Irene, Intolerable Cruelty, North Country, The Kingdom and the popular HBO drama series Six Feet Under. Jenkins appears in two new major films due out in 2008, Step Brothers with Will Ferrell and Burn After Reading by the Coen brothers.

[rating:4/5]