Visitor, The (2007) [Blu-ray]
Crime | Drama | Music | Romance

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 Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira), Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friends, and rediscovers a passion he thought he had lost long ago.

Written and directed by Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent), internationally-renowned Hiam Abbass (Munich) co-stars in "the year's first genuine must-see film" (Ann Hornaday,The Washington Post) about rediscovering life's rhythms in the most unexpected places.

User Comment: Ralph Hummel (fhu@pipeline.com) from Huntington, New York, 25 April 2008 • It's only about twice a decade that I run across a movie that really impresses me. It's usually an obscure film that I entered with no expectations -- but left blown away by its cinematic achievement.

I just saw such a film tonight. "The Visitor" A small independent production with zero-advertising. Made by Tom McCarthy whose prior film, "The Station Agent," was an imperfect, character-absorbed drama.

The star of this movie is an actor (Richard Jenkins) whom you'll recognize from his numerous roles as minor-characters, most notably the dead-patriarch in "Six Feet Under." All of the other actors are completely unknown, but notably talented.

The appeal of this film is its story. An aged, listless academic, whose wife died earlier, floats through his uninteresting life until something happens to jar him. What happens next is unexpected, interesting and poignant. It would ruin the story if I told it to you, so you'll have to trust me. Suffice it to say it's a story of rebirth.

Like most of my favorite films, it has comedy, pathos, surprises, authenticity and a philosophical examination of what it means to be human. In short, everything, even politics.

And the presentation is skillfully-crafted. McCarthy demonstrates what was good about his prior work without dragging it down with what was bad about that work.

See it.

Summary: Outstanding.

[[CSW] -4- It was humanity at its best and worst without being political - an adult coming of age.

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