The Visitor

Director:  Thomas McCarthy

This closing night film is the sophomore effort by the director of critically acclaimed film,“The Station Agent.”  Here, 62 year-old widower Walter Vale (veteran actor Richard Jenkins) is sleepwalking through his life as a tenured professor working on a book he has no intention of finishing.  He has lost his passion for teaching and writing and spends his evenings in a quiet, empty house.  In an effort to bring something back into his life he takes piano lessons in honor of his late wife, a classical pianist, but, unfortunately, he’s no pianist.  Pushed into attending a conference in New York his life is mercifully turned upside down when he discovers a couple living in his flat.  Syrian musician Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese wife Zainab (Danai Gurira) have been taken in by a real estate scam thinking they were legitimately renting his apartment. Instead of leaving them to the streets, Walter Vale shows his compassion and lets them stay until they can make arrangements.  This moment of kindness changes his life.

He bonds with Tarek who teaches him the African drum.  At this, Walter is an odd-looking natural.  Before you know it he is captivated by the music, bopping his head in the kitchen, drumming on the table in meetings, and practicing with gusto.  Before long he is going with Tarek and his reluctant wife to jazz clubs and joining him in Central Park drum circles. 

The movie does take a clear stance on the issue of immigration when Tarek is picked up for doing nothing wrong and placed in detention.  Only then does Walter learn they are illegal immigrants who could be separated and deported at a moment’s notice.  This brings Tarek’s mother into Walter’s life as well.  But the movie is less about politics and more about human relations, about the reward for opening your heart, for taking chances, for trying new things and going against expectations, and about what it means to be truly alive.  The role was written for Jenkins, which is unsurprising as his performance is genuine, sincere, real, and dead on perfect for the character, as was Hiam Abbass’s performance as Tarek’s mother.  Warm, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny, “The Visitor” is a perfect follow up to “The Station Agent.”

Lucy Cruell