The Visitor - REVIEW

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's right on time: this year's nice but needlessly overpraised indie film has arrived right on schedule. Despite a good story and good performances, it doesn't quite match the hype. It's also a bit of a letdown, considering that director Tom McCarthy's previous effort was the wonderful and poignant "The Station Agent" (2003). The story follows Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins, good, but getting too much praise), and old college professor who is sent to New York to present written by a collegue at a convention. Checking in at his NYC apartment, Walter is surprised to find a couple living in his apartment; They are Syrian born Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), and Senegal born Zainab (Danai Gurira). After the initial shock has worn off, Walter agrees to let the stowaways continue to live with him since he rarely uses the apartment anyway. As time goes by, he begins to find himself awakening out of his seemingly endless daydreaming by learning how to play the African drum from Tarek. Soon, after a mishap that was completely innocent, however, Tarek is mistakenly taken into custody, and eventually detained because he is in the US illegally. Against Tarek's wishes, his mother (Hiam Abbass) eventually shows up, even though she cannot enter the detainment facility. While it's all interesting, the pacing of the film is a bit off, and at times the pacing feels more sluggish than thoughtful. Despite earning rave reviews, Jenkins really doesn't turn in the brilliant performance that the critics promise. There doesn't seem to be a terrible amount of depth until late in the movie, but it's not enough to warrant the praise he's been receiving. The real star of the show, is in fact Hiam Abbass, who paints a wonderful portrait of a woman unable to see her own son in his darkest hour. She and Sleiman give the film what little "spark" there is in it, because they show the most emotion; he is lively and generally optimistic, and she is heartbroken and distraught. The script also suffers from some glitches along the way, most notably when McCarthy (who wrote the film as well), decides to give Jenkins his first BIG EMOTIONAL MOMENT. It's not that Jenkins fails at acting, but rather, the script turns a man's outrage in a "spell-out-the-message-of-the-movie" moment, that feels a bit ham fisted and false. All in all, a bit of a disappointment; not because it's bad, but simply because it just doesn't live up to the ridiculous hype surrounding its central performance.

Grade: B-

Nominations: Best Picture (#5), Best Director - Tom McCarthy(#5), Best Actor - Richard Jenkins(#3), Best Supporting Actor - Haaz Sleiman(#4), Best Supporting Actress - Hiam Abbass(#1 WINNER), Best Original Screenplay(#3), Best Original Score (#3)

Number of 2008 films seen: 6