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Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira, Marian Seldes ... see more see more... , Richard Kind , Michael Cumpsty , Maggie Moore , Bill McHenry , Tzahi Moskovitz , Amir Arison , Neal Lerner , Ramón Fernández , Frank Pando , Waleed Zuaitor , Deborah Rush , Ashley Springer , Laith Nakli , Jacqueline Brogman , Walter T. Mudu , Yevgeniy Dekhtyar , Earl Baker Jr. , Walter the Dog

A lonesome widower and college economics professor finds his mundane existence suddenly shaken up when he befriends a pair of illegal immigrants, one of whom has recently been threatened with deportat... read more read more...ion by U.S. immigration authorities, in the sophomore feature from The Station Agent director Tom McCarthy. Years after losing his wife, 62-year-old Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) has also lost his passion for writing and teaching. In an effort to fill the empty void that his life has become, Walter makes a half-hearted attempt to learn to play classical piano. Later, when Walter's college sends him to a conference in Manhattan, he is surprised to discover that a young couple has moved into his seldom-used apartment in the city. Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab (Danai Gurira) have fallen victims to an elaborate real-estate scam, and as a result they no longer have a place to call home. When Walter reluctantly allows the couple to remain in his apartment, talented musician Tarek insists on repaying his host's kindness by teaching him to play the African drum. Over the course of Walter's lessons, the ageing academic finds his spirits revitalized while gaining a newfound appreciation for New York jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. Later, Tarek is arrested in the subway and threatened with deportation after police learn that he is an undocumented citizen. Suddenly, in his attempt to help his new friend, Walter's passion for life is unexpectedly awakened. When Tarek's radiant mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives in the city in search of her son, that passion turns to romance -- something that Walter had previously thought he would never experience again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

82% liked it

125,019 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

115 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Tom McCarthy

Release Date: April 25, 2008

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DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (4,382)

  • danperry17
    May 23, 2012
    danperry17
    A movie I'm sure most people saw only after Richard Jenkins was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, The Visitor is compelling and well-acted. It starts well, but it suffers in the end because of its change in focus: for a long part in the middle, it's barely about the main charac... read moreter anymore. And though this is kind of the point - he gets swept up in lives very different and much harder than his own - the depth of the early going thins out and the plot becomes much more mechanical, to the point that the final evolution of the protagonist doesn't hit at gut level the way the filmmaker clearly hopes it would. A good movie, but not a great one, notable mostly for Jenkins's performance... the Academy, it seems, would agree.
  • cosmo313
    May 5, 2012
    cosmo313
    A lonely widower professor gets a new lease on lfie after a chance encounter with some illegal immigrants.

    Based on that set up alone, you could easily just cast this movie off as another case of minority characters acting as an angelic force whose purpose is to help a down and ... read moreout white, as well as yet again a film where a white man comes to the aid of minorities in need.

    Why do that though? Especially when the way it's all handled (as is the case here) is done with care, intelligence, and an overhwelming sense of gentleness and sincerity (in good ways). The film does have typical elements to it, but it's well played, avoids being pandering (almost completely), and is aved by some terrific performances, especially that of Jenkins in a standout lead role.

    Yeah, the film is uneven and all over the place with what it is trying to do, but it's never boring, has a lot fo heart, and could have been done a whole lot worse. Give it a go.
  • jennifxu
    July 30, 2011
    jennifxu
    Now this is more like it! A slow, simple story that flows out organically and doesn't force anything. It starts out lightly but somehow manages to pull out a spectrum of emotions: laughter, heartbreak, peace, frustration. Richard Jenkins is truly a work of art. Instead of stealin... read moreg the show for himself he reacts to the events and people that happen. The story isn't about him, and he doesn't make it about him, and I appreciate that. The change is subtle yet quick and pronounced and Jenkins never breaks character. He leaks grief and jadedness wherever he goes but you can sense when he is really happy and when his passive bubble is burst. This isn't a role with lengthy soliloquys and in fact the character is quite an awkward one but somehow this only makes it more humanistic, more compassionate.

    Music is a uniting force in this movie and whomever chose it has a wonderful ear. Good interspersing of African drum beats among the expansive piano runs. The director managed to make New York look very spare but it's never an image of complete coldness. In fact the cinematography is quite warm and this is all owing to Jenkins' quiet sympathy. It just goes to show that depression is not the answer and even though it doesn't end happily I'm left feeling...elevated somehow. Who was really the one most elevated, the immigrants or the professor? I guess the ending shows the professor, the "visitor" was the one that was. I guess the "visitor" is a metaphor for a happenstance upon a really rich culture. I don't know, honestly I'm really struck by Richard Jenkins. I hope he at least gets considered for an Oscar nod. I can't usually tell these things but this nuanced role was played beautifully and naturally.
  • bottcorecords1
    March 20, 2011
    bottcorecords1
    The Visitor is a simple and gentle film that explores many issues, from immigration to loneliness. The film tells the story of Walter, an economics professor who, since his wife died, has lost any interest in life. His days are filled with joyless routine. Returning to New Yor... read morek to attend a conference, he finds a young foreign couple living in his apartment. Tarek and Zainab are from Syria and Senegal respectively and were fooled into renting the apartment illegally. Walter however, allows them to stay, mostly out of pity, but also out of interest in Tarek's african drum. Walter's late wife was a professional piano player and Walter had been trying in the years since her death to learn to play the instrument. The drum speaks to him in a way the piano could not, and soon he and Tarek are playing together in the park. They seem to form a quick yet tight bond over music that turns into a warm friendship.

    The Visitor could've turned into a very predictable, standard look at america's immigration policy towards muslims post 9/11, but Richard Jenkins (academy award nominated) performance as "every white man" keeps it from being one dimensional. You might get the impression his character is supposed to be the typical american, lifeless and without any cultural heritage, but Jenkins brings a pathos to the screen that goes beyond what you might find in the script. The film is all the more satisfying because of it.
  • middleeasternfilms
    November 11, 2010
    middleeasternfilms
    Richard Jenkins brilliantly portrays a lonely college professor who has nothing in his life since his wife died. When he's unexpectedly sent to New York to present a paper a colleague wrote, he finds his apartment has been taken over by an immigrant couple who have been living th... read moreere for two months. After allowing them to stay, Tarek gets arrested and is on the brink of deportation which puts a new spin on Vale's life and existence since these two are really the only thing he has now. With Tarek's mother, they try and fight his deportation. It's heartwarming, but altogether sad and sometimes funny as the whole film shows just how cruel and unusual the system works since 9/11.
    This isn't the first film to deal with the after-effects of the terrorist attacks, but it works rather well and is interesting enough to keep your attention. very well-made with believeable performances from all involved.
  • dreamfaeries
    August 29, 2010
    dreamfaeries
    Beautiful. It took some time to get into the film but by the end you are hooked and so involved with the characters. Great acting, great cast, beautifully shot. Love it!
  • binky013
    July 30, 2010
    binky013
    Now this is an experience not to be missed. I've mentioned in past comments that my primary prayer when I watch a flim is being able to care about characters as if they were real human beings. I present Exhibit A. The good people who carried out this project fired on all cylin... read moreders. I've not seen something this moving in many moons. The proverbial icing on the cake is the soundtrack. The music is an integral part of the movie, and it is brilliant. If you want to remember why movies are supposed to be made, this is a guaranteed refresher opportunity.
  • Redlats
    April 30, 2010
    Redlats
    This movie involves a professor who is just going through the motions after his wife's death. He has a seldom-used apartment in New York city, which some con artist has illegally rented to an immigrant couple. Rather than kick them out onto the street, he becomes involved in th... read moreeir lives.

    The movie turns out to be a social commentary on America's immigrant policies. I liked the "unfinished" ending. Richard Jenkins was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of the professor, and that nomination is well-deserved.
  • rubystevens
    October 21, 2009
    rubystevens
    a touching story of a lonely man who becomes overly involved in the lives of complete strangers, ultimately renewing his will to live. a little formula, a little unbelievable, but very sweet nevertheless. i loved the scene of him jamming with fela in his connecticut living room... read more but middle-age white guy playing african drum in the subway? lol. very cool
  • bookmunki
    June 16, 2009
    bookmunki
    an achingly human film, with killer drum beats.

View All The Visitor Reviews

Critic Reviews

Carrie Rickey
May 2, 2008
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

At first glance Walter isn't a guy you want to spend two hours with. But by the end of the film, you don't want to see him go. Jenkins is like that: He sneaks up on you and steals your heart with ligh... Full Review

Roger Moore
May 2, 2008
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

The Visitor is a tiny treasure of a movie. This is a wistful comedy that quickly finds its rhythm, but never lets that groove become a rut. Full Review

Jason McBride
April 25, 2008
Jason McBride, Globe and Mail

The film becomes less about the suffering of immigrants who have never enjoyed the embrace of Ellis Island than the righteous indignation of a liberal intelligentsia raging against its own powerlessness. Full Review

Philip Marchand
April 25, 2008
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star

The story of Vale's revitalization and his grief is compelling but simple, free of any sentimentality, and marked by powerful performances from Jenkins and Hiam Abbass, who plays Mouna Khalil, Tarek's... Full Review

Richard Roeper
April 21, 2008
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

The script here is very strong.

J. R. Jones
April 21, 2008
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

[Richard Jenkins] gets the role of a lifetime in this powerful second film by writer-director Thomas McCarthy. Full Review

Michael Phillips
April 18, 2008
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Richard Jenkins and "The Visitor" make lovely music together. It's a case of a veteran character actor slipping on a leading role like the most comfortable pair of pants in the world. Full Review

Ruthe Stein
April 18, 2008
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

McCarthy puts a mark on each film, identifying it as distinctly his own. A couple more like them, and he'll be knighted an auteur. Full Review

Wesley Morris
April 18, 2008
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

This is a film of our times -- paranoid, heartbroken, disillusioned -- and the rare recent American movie whose characters react the way actual people might. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
April 17, 2008
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

The Visitor gives viewers a perceptive, deeply personal take on the timeless immigrant narrative, in which the most epic journey is finally one of self-discovery. Full Review

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    • Tarek: She's a good muslim. I'm a bad one.
    • Mouna: This feels like Syria.
    • Walter Vale: We are not helpless children!
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