The Visitor
by Tom McCarthy
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DVD details
Actor: Hazz Sleiman, Hiam Abbas, Richard JenkinsDirector: Tom McCarthy
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, HiFi Sound, NTSC, Surround Sound, THX, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
Published: 2008-01-01
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-07
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: ANCHOR BAY
DVD Reviews of The Visitor
DVD Review: Cold Walter warms up
Summary: 5 Stars
Cold Walter warms up via music. Wonderful views of New York City and its Immigrant scene. Richard Jenkins, (6 Feet Under), excels as the empty shell of a man who blossoms with the help of the most likeable Tarek, played by Haaz Sleiman, and music.DVD Review: TERRIFIC MOVIE!
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie has a lot of heart with wonderful performances by all. Richard Jenkins as the college professor, who discovers a pair of illegal aliens living in his New York apartment, should have won an oscar for his very touching portrayal. The professor becomes friends with them, which includes a young Syrian musician and his Sengalese girlfriend. What develops is that the bored professor is enlightened by the young Syrian musician who teaches the professor how to play drums. Complications arise and the Syrian musician is taken in by immigration authorities. During these tense times the professor meets the Syrian musician's mother, whom he comforts and has a relationship with. This is a realistic movie filled with human emotions very sensitively presented. DVD Review: A must 'Visit'...
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the major issues leftover from W.'s administration was immigration. `The Visitor' addresses the thorny subject by presenting a story of four people affected by it. As with most issues on this country's agenda, it's not quite so cut and dried as people make it out to be. One might assume you are either for or against. `The Visitor' tears that apart and forces the viewer to re-examine the complexities involved. And I'm not sure that by the last act we can be certain who the `Visitor' truly is.
Aside from some sober realities, `The Visitor' is full of magic on many levels. Richard Jenkins plays `Walter', an academic who appears to be not merely burned out, but a scorched shell of an individual that has been sleepwalking through life. His world changes as many do when a chance occurrence presents him with a decision requiring a spark of humanity.
On the opposite end of the spectrum (and a welcome balance) are Zainab (Dania Gurira)and Tarek (Haaz Sleiman). They are a young couple who live life to it's absolute fullest , while traveling on a near empty tank of gas. They embody every bit of spirit, hope and determination of those who came before them in the massive wave of immigration from the early days of the last century.
An excellent performance from Hiam Abbass (Mouna) lifts the film to new heights. Her addition to the cast was that good. The savvy film goer might be tempted to believe they have gotten the best of the plot guessing game with her arrival. Perhaps. But by this time in the story, anxiety begins to creep in and soon the viewer will be gripped by the decisions leading to the finale.
My paternal Grandparents were among those afforded the opportunity for a new life in America. I couldn't help but think of them while watching `The Visitor's' story unfold. In the high stakes world of public opinion with political futures at stake, something gets lost. It is drowned out amidst the analysts' incessant babble. It is an individual's chance to build upon their dreams in a country that depends upon them to survive that is disappearing.
DVD Review: Good Film With A Bogus Premise
Summary: 3 Stars
The best thing I can say about "The Visitor" is that it's provocative and has the courage of it's convictions. Now matter how well crafted a film is, however, it doesn't necessarily mean I have to agree with it's viewpoint. The film's positive attributes are it is riveting and Richard Jenkins, an underrated actor who deservedly scored an Oscar nom, gives a career turn. Though not offensive or disagreeable the film's position on illegal immigration is unaccepatable. There is a reason we protect our borders even from charming Syrian drummers. Immigration isn't necessarily a bad thing but there are legal channels to go through. The film's illegals are not victims of a cold bureaucrasy but deliberate lawbreakers. The one thing about the film I did find offensive is it's portrayal of Homeland Security officials doing their job as callous dolts. I admire films that assume the intelligence of their audience and aren't afraid of engaging them in intelligent debate. That said you don't have to buy into it.DVD Review: The Visitor - a heart warming and yet heart rending tale
Summary: 5 Stars
Walter Vale, (Richard Jenkins) is a university professor and writer who we meet with a bit of a dull lifeless way about him. He is involved with a conference on internationalization and globalization, that he would rather not have had to attend. When he arrives at his second residence, he discovers he has guests, not his though, living there.
Vale is a very sensitive guy, has a lot of hang ups, but we learn as we get to know the character, he has lost a lot in his life and has had tried to stay somewhat connected with it. His visitors, Tarek (Slieman) and his girlfriend Zainab, played by Danai Gurira. As Vale gets them to leave, he realizes that they are harmless toward him and tells them to stay until they find a place. As the days of the conference pass, Vale sees Tarek playing the African drum, the Djembe. Symbolic of its ability to be shared and to bring people together (we learn this in the extras), we have the drum and Vale's desire to learn to play a central theme.
Vale has failed at his attempts to learn to play piano. His relationship with Tarek and the Djembe are a turn around for Vale. This is all so short lived as Tarek is eventually taken into custody with immigration due to his status. We get the sense though is that Tarek is here for the right reasons, and we get a view that some who flee here from countries we tend to fear today, come for the same reasons that all who came here did. We see and hear about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and the joy that Tarek and Zainab have for being here.
This is definately a movie that is making a statement, and would it be nice to focus on why freedom loving peoples of all sorts come here to seek a better life. Gurira is very believable as a Sengalese woman. It is surprising to see here speak in the extras section, you can view her in the links on the main Visitor page here on Amazon, but I would wait to see that in the extras, she is amazing. Slieman draws you in to his role. You are not quite sure when you meet him if he is a good guy or not. Jenkins, as Vale, sets the tone for his character and for the film.
This is inspiring to me. It gives us a view that there just may be people here with other motives. Can we find them, and help them to speak for the many who share their hopes and desires. Can we somehow find a way to support giving them a chance while finding and screening out those whose desires are less than what anyone would want?
The Visitor may make us think of a few more questions we need to ask ourselves. Although we desire to protect our country and our future, can that be done with a view that many people who are just that, people, are involved in trying to find a better life. The Visitor is a must for people who feel that there are possibilities. It is a great story with a message.
Description of The Visitor
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, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friends, and rediscovers a passion he thought he had lost long ago. The year's first genuine must-see film" (Ann Hornaday, THE WASHINGTON POST) about rediscovering life's rhythms in the most unexpected placesA deeply moving drama built around longtime character actor Richard Jenkins, The Visitor is a simmering drama about a college professor and recent widower, Walter Vale (Jenkins), who discovers a pair of homeless, illegal aliens living in his New York apartment. After the mix-up is resolved, Vale invites the couple--a young, Syrian musician named Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend (Danai Gurira--to stay with him. An unlikely friendship develops between the retiring, quiet Vale and the vital Tarek, and the former begins to loosen up and respond to Tarek's drumming lessons as if something in him waiting to be liberated has finally arrived. All goes well until Tarek is hauled in by immigration authorities and threatened with deportation. His mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass), turns up and stays with Vale, sparking a renewed if subdued interest in courtship. But the wheels of injustice in immigration crush all manner of hopes in post-9/11 America. Vale soon realizes his unexpected capacity for anger over Tarek's plight, and the positive changes to his personal life that emerged from a deep involvement with his friend and Mouna, might be the only legacy he takes from this experience. Writer-director Thomas McCarthy has created a wonderfully measured story about change and renewal, and put it all on the shoulders of Jenkins, a largely unheralded but masterful performer whose time for renown has surely come. --Tom Keogh
Stills from The Visitor (click for larger image)
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Beyond The Visitor
 On Blu-ray |  Soundtrack CD |  Also directed by Tom McCarthy |
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