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The Visitor
by Frances Syner
TAfter years playing small parts on the big screen, character actor Richard Jenkins takes the lead in The Visitor, a low key drama that focuses on unexpected relationships set against the timely issue of illegal immigration. Jenkins, who also honed his acting skills on stage for twenty years  at Rhode Island's award winning Trinity Repertory Theater, gives a bravura performance as Walter Vale, a professor of global economics at a Connecticut college. In the film Walter's wife, a concert pianist has died and his only son lives abroad leaving the balding, bespeckled sixty year old emotionally untethered.
The Visitor opens with snapshots of Walter's lonely life. He takes piano lessons, pretends to be writing a book and sleepwalks through the only class he still teaches at the college. When a colleague is unable to deliver a paper at a conference in New York City he reluctantly agrees to present it for her. It turns out to be a pivotal decision.
As Walter enters the Manhattan apartment he seldom uses anymore, he discovers a young black girl soaking in his bathtub. Seconds later he is pummeled by her boyfriend Tarek who thinks Walter is an intruder. Tarek, a Syrian and Zainab originally from Senegal, are living in the apartment but are apparently victims of a rental scam. Walter throws them out. But he instantly regrets his hasty actions when he realizes they are now homeless and persuades the couple to stay with him until they find another place to live.
The arrangement energizes Walter who bonds with the personable Tarek over music. Tarek plays the African drum for a living in clubs around the city. Soon Walter becomes his enthusiastic student; the tweedy white dude jamming with the laid back Syrian. Not surprisingly age and cultural difference recede as a tentative friendship grows. On the other hand, Zainab, who makes bracelets to sell at street fairs, maintains a cool distance from Walter throughout most of the film for reasons unknown.
 The film, written and directed by actor Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent), hits its dramatic stride when Tarek is arrested in a subway, a victim of racial profiling. Walter then discovers the couple's illegal status, and frantically tries to prevent Tarek's deportation by hiring an immigration lawyer. Tarek's detention brings his beautiful mother Mouna on the scene which introduces a romantic angle.
The Visitor owes much of its impact to a superb cast - especially Jenkins, whose film credits include Hannah and her Sisters, The Witches of Eastwick, The Kingdom and several Farrelly Brothers movies. With his Everyman looks and restrained acting style, he slips into the role of Walter so seamlessly it's hard to imagine anyone else in it.
One scene in particular sums up the essence of the movie and showcases Jenkins' skills. Mouna notices Walter has ditched his old clunky glasses for a new sleek pair. At that moment, Jenkins, almost imperceptibly, conveys Walter's metamorphosis from apathetic academic to a human being passionately alive once again.
Director McCarthy wisely chose unknown actors rather than "names" to tell his story. Along with Jenkins are impressive newcomers Haaz Sleiman (Tarek) and Danai Gurira (Zainab). However, it is Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass who captivates with an exquisite performance as Mouna. Her scenes with Jenkins light up the screen.
Although McCarthy sprinkles his film rather pointedly and sometimes annoyingly with negative anti-illegal immigration symbolism including various shots of the Statue of Liberty, references to 9-11 along with the resulting anti Arab sentiments, The Visitor is no heavy handed manifesto extolling McCarthy's political views. To his credit the real message of the film remains the characters and the life changing effects they have on each other.
Rated PG-13. Running time 1:43 minutes
Frances Syner is the Theatre and Film Columnist for The Federal Hill Gazette.
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