The Visitor is a very well done character piece. Richard Jenkins plays Walter a man who has lost his wife and his subsequent attempts to try to connect to her through learning the piano (the instrument she played) have failed. Walter has become increasingly disinterested in his job as a professor where he teaches only one class and tells everyone he is working on a book he isn't writing. As a result of this Walter has become isolated and just going through the motions of life without actually living. He treats his fellow colleges, students and neighbors with a general apathetic and dismissive tone keeping his distance. Walter gets forced to go to New York to present a paper and there he runs into a young couple that have been duped into thinking the apartment that is actually Walter's is being lent to them by a friend since Walter has not gone there for years. The couple leaves but when Walter sees them standing on the sidewalk with all their belongings scrambling to find somewhere to stay Walter decides to extend an act of kindness and offers to let them stay until they find a permanent place to stay. It seems like a small gesture but this one act of kindness will eventually transform his life. One day Walter comes home and sees that Tarek is playing the African drum. Eventually Tarek teaches Walter how to play the drum. This seems like such a trivial thing but by learning a musical instrument it helps Walter to feel a connection to his wife and gives him something in life to feel passionate about. Coming back from a drum circle that they played in Tarek gets stuck in a subway turnstile and arrested. We then find out he is illegal and gets sent to a detention center. Eventually Tarek mom comes and her and Walter form a bond over the care for his son. From that one act of kindness it sets into motion Walter's humanity getting restored. Richard Jenkins gives a fantastic portrayal of Walter and is . He truly is a blank slate with an empty look in the beginning of the movie and eventually you see more and more of Walter's will being restored by the way Walter interacts with others and from the looks on his face. It truly is one of the remarkable performances of the year. Thomas McCarthy wrote a wonderful screenplay where the plot unfolds itself incredibility naturally. One thing I admire greatly about the film is when the characters say important and intimate details about themselves they only do so when they have achieved a bond with each other. They don't go baring their soul to just anyone that listens. The only aspect that I felt was missing was some visual flair or some great cinematography. The visuals feel a bit bland and with the exception of the final scene the film has pretty standard cinematography for an independent film. Still, the Visitor succeeds because we care deeply about all of these characters.
Review of The Visitor
The Visitor
(I) (2007)
Richard Jenkins Gives a Powerful Performance in a Well Written Film
5 December 2008