Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Hailed as 'one of the year's most intriguing dramas' (Claudia Puig, USA TODAY), The Visitor stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) in a perfect performance (Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY) as Walter, a disaffected college professor who has been drifting aimlessly through his life. When, in a chance encounter on a trip into New York, Walter discovers a couple has taken up residence in his apartment in the city, he develops an unexpected and profound connection to them that will change his life forever. As challenges arise for his tenants, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friends, and rediscovers a passion he thought he had lost long ago. The year's first genuine must-see film' (Ann Hornaday, THE WASHINGTON POST) about rediscovering life's rhythms in the most unexpected places

Amazon.com:
A deeply moving drama built around longtime character actor Richard Jenkins, The Visitor is a simmering drama about a college professor and recent widower, Walter Vale (Jenkins), who discovers a pair of homeless, illegal aliens living in his New York apartment. After the mix-up is resolved, Vale invites the couple--a young, Syrian musician named Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend (Danai Gurira--to stay with him. An unlikely friendship develops between the retiring, quiet Vale and the vital Tarek, and the former begins to loosen up and respond to Tarek’s drumming lessons as if something in him waiting to be liberated has finally arrived. All goes well until Tarek is hauled in by immigration authorities and threatened with deportation. His mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass), turns up and stays with Vale, sparking a renewed if subdued interest in courtship. But the wheels of injustice in immigration crush all manner of hopes in post-9/11 America. Vale soon realizes his unexpected capacity for anger over Tarek’s plight, and the positive changes to his personal life that emerged from a deep involvement with his friend and Mouna, might be the only legacy he takes from this experience. Writer-director Thomas McCarthy has created a wonderfully measured story about change and renewal, and put it all on the shoulders of Jenkins, a largely unheralded but masterful performer whose time for renown has surely come. --Tom Keogh


Stills from The Visitor (click for larger image)









Beyond The Visitor

On Blu-ray

Soundtrack CD

Also directed by Tom McCarthy

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Rating: - A movie to remind us that we all come from somewhere
Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins), an insular, lonely economics professor at an upscale Connecticut college, is tapped by his superiors to present a paper at a conference in New York City, though he resists as strongly as he is able. He very reluctantly complies, only to find himself jarred out of his complacent misery when he arrives in New York by finding squatters in the apartment he has maintained for many years. The pair, a Senegalese woman (Danai Gurira) and her Syrian boyfriend (Haaz Sleiman),both illegal aliens, have sublet the apartment from a total stranger. Walter's reaction, after a great deal of thought, is to take them in until they can find suitable lodgings. The movie progresses deceptively slowly...you imagine more time has passed than actually happens...and the relationship between the three evolves naturally and believeably. Tarek, the man from Syria, takes an instant liking to his benefactor and when Walter exhibits an interest in Tarek's talent (playing the djembe, an African drum), Tarek turns Walter into the most incongruous member of a drum circle in Central Park. Only Zaineb, the Senegalese woman, shows real wariness; she's been involved in troubles to do with immigration before, and she doesn't totally trust Walter for a long time, until circumstances force her to admit that Walter has a true friendship for both of his impromptu lodgers. Very few movies in the past few years have brought me to tears, but this movie is so beautifully wrought and staged, with unsurpassed acting from everyone involved, that I cannot recommend it highly enough. It will touch your heart in ways that you did not think possible.

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Rating: - Poignant
A friend said this was a wonderful movie and thought I would also enjoy it. Lovely sweet and sad story of a man who unexpectedly finds himself involved in the lives of strangers.

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Rating: - Profoundly human drama
I was so amazing impressed by the Station Agent that I saw it twice and was thrilled when I heard that Thomas had directed another movie. If anything the visitor was better. Both were such human portrayals of friendship, goodness, and brokenness. Unlike any other American filmmaker I know of, Thomas McCarthy has an uncanny ability to empathize with the human condition with his films (is that too abstract of a praise?). Anyway, I hope he makes many more films (but never becomes famous). I will watch every one.

Btw, Does anyone know what his next directorial project will be?

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Rating: - This Visitor Will Stay With You
"The Visitor" tells the story of Walter, a college professor who is going through the motions of his empty academic life. The early scenes of the movie show you Walter's loneliness--he eats alone, lives alone--but there are obvious echoes of happier times in his life. On a chance visit to NYC he discovers two illegal immigrants that have illegally sublet his apartment. On a whim, he lets them stay, and they slowly bring him back to life. Just when the movie starts to cheer up--the unlucky happens--one of the immigrants is arrested. The rest of the film is heart-wrenching, but well worth the watch.

This movie is excellent. The writing is great, and the acting is understated in a way that feels authentic. You really empathize with these characters as their world is torn apart. Although the film has a very negative portrayal of the US Government and US Immigrations, you can understand why the characters are so frustrated with the system. This is certainly a film that will get you thinking, and after watching it, I understand the praise it has received in the press.

I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a real human interest story. The movie is very moving, whatever your views on the larger immigration issue.

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Rating: - The Vistor
I really enjoyed this movie, it also tought me a great deal about how people are treated. My heart went out to the young man, the way they destroyed his life and broke his spirit. Shame on us. We need to have better control and more compassion for the every day people, not everyone is against the USA