The Visitor (2007)

A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.

Director:

Tom McCarthy

Writer:

Tom McCarthy

Stars:

Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 19 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Jenkins	...	Walter
Haaz Sleiman	...	Tarek
Danai Gurira	...	Zainab
Hiam Abbass	...	Mouna
Marian Seldes	...	Barbara
Maggie Moore	...	Karen
Michael Cumpsty	...	Charles
Bill McHenry	...	Darin
Richard Kind	...	Jacob
Tzahi Moskovitz	...	Zev
Amir Arison	...	Mr. Shah
Neal Lerner	...	Martin Revere
Ramon Fernandez	...	Cop #1
Frank Pando	...	Cop #2
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Omar

Storyline

In Connecticut, lonely widowed Professor Walter Vale has a boring life. He teaches only one class at the local college and is trying to learn how to play the piano, despite not having the necessary musical talent. Walter is assigned to attend a conference about Global Policy and Development at New York University, where he is to give a lecture about a paper on which he is co-author. When he arrives at his apartment in New York, he finds Tarek Khalil, a Syrian musician, and Zainab, a Senegalese street vendor, living there. He sympathizes with the situation of the illegal immigrants and invites the couple to stay with him. Tarek invites him to go to his gig at Jules Live Jazz. Walter is fascinated with his African drum and Tarek offers to teach Walter to play the drum. However, after an incident in the subway, Tarek is arrested by the police and sent to a detention center for illegal immigrants. Walter has just hired a lawyer to defend Tarek when, out of the blue, Tarek's mother Mouna ...

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Plot Keywords:

professor | conference | lawyer | connecticut | economics | 

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Taglines:

connection is everything

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Arabic Romanian

Release Date:

23 May 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Visitor

Filming Locations:

East Village Wines, East Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$86,488, 13 April 2008

Gross USA:

$9,427,089

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,078,175

Company Credits

Production Co:

Groundswell Productions, Next Wednesday Productions, Participant

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During Walter's drum lesson(s), he is told to forget about 4/4 time as the African beat is 3/4. He plays in 3/4 with his friend throughout most of the film and in his final scene in the subway, he is playing in 4/4 time.

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Goofs

The color scheme for the street signs for all areas of NYC was standardized in the mid '90's. All street signs in NYC are now green/white, regardless of location.

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Quotes

Ronald Cole: Sir?
Prof. Walter Vale: Yes? Did you find him?
Ronald Cole: He's been removed.
Prof. Walter Vale: Removed to where?
Ronald Cole: Deported.
Prof. Walter Vale: Deported? When?
Ronald Cole: He was deported this morning.
Prof. Walter Vale: How can that be? No, he - Um, sir, is there any way that I could contact him?
Ronald Cole: I don't think so.
Prof. Walter Vale: You don't think so? What kind of an answer is that?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Baldwin's L2 grand piano

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Connections

References Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)

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Soundtracks

Je'nmi Temi (Don't Gag Me)
Written and Performed by Fela Kuti
Courtesy of Universal Music Barclay (FR)
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Small Comments

Mr. McCarthy's film seems to be working at several levels, a main one being the character development of Walter Vale, and another the effects of blind bureaucracy upon the human spirit.

It was interesting to see Vale's callous attitude toward one of his students early on when the lad was late turning in a class paper. The student's reason: some serious personal issues. Did the professor show any extra understanding or compassion for the young man? No; the paper was late and therefore simply unacceptable.

Yet when Vale wanted information and understanding later on at the immigration department when making inquiry about the deportation of Tarek Kahlel, what did he do but blatantly rant about how insensitive and unimpassioned was the system. This, after he'd previously witnessed a similar situation at the front desk with another frustrated inquirer.

What's the country to do, having immigration regulations in place: excuse and make special exceptions for certain illegal aliens? As Vale showed no interest in learning about his student's situation, he yet expected the immigration department to bend to his personal demands.

Vale was certainly a pathetic prof, drifting through life without energy or passion. His encounter with Tarek and his wife and mother all seemed rather arbitrary, allowing these relationships to become his interest, for lack of a better direction. Personally, I felt sorry for this glum character, yet mindful that the death of a spouse can cause some derailment in direction.

The cast was uniformly fine, with special kudos to Richard Jenkins and Haaz Sleiman.