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:

O Visitante

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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$9,422,422, 5 October 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Groundswell Productions,Next Wednesday Productions,Participant Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The parking lot in which Walter parks his car after arriving in New York - on East 11th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue - was torn down shortly after the film was released.

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Goofs

As Mouna (Hiam Abbass) and Walter (Richard Jenkins) are becoming closer, Mouna calls Walter Richard - his real name - rather than the character's name.

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Quotes

Zainab: Why did you invite him?
Tarek Khalil: We're staying in his apartment. What could I do?
Zainab: And I'll be stuck with him while you play your drum.
Tarek Khalil: You know you're very sexy when you're mad at me.
[leans in to kiss her]
Prof. Walter Vale: [interrupts] Hello! If you don't mind, I think I will come.
Tarek Khalil: Cool.
Prof. Walter Vale: Let me get my coat.
[Zainab frustrates]

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Crazy Credits

Baldwin's L2 grand piano

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Connections

Referenced in Shrink (2009)

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Soundtracks

Ya Sha-E
Written by Hossam Ramzy
Performed by Hossam Ramzy
Courtesy of Opus 1 Music

User Reviews

From a rich exploration of character, to a slightly ill-conceived issue-based drama.

Richard Jenkins' portrayal of lacklustre professor Walter is beautifully underplayed, somnambulistically acting out the various roles of his life as a stilted economics professor. The beginning scenes unravel artfully and launch into the story where Walter is abruptly introduced to the young couple (Tarek and Zainab).

The ensuing impromptu friendship that develops is well conceived. The wariness and strong-will of Zainab contrasts well against her boyfriend Tarek's more forthright relaxed nature. The interplay between Tarek, Zainab and Walter is at times awkward, at times touching. I felt that these quality performances go a long way towards forgiving the unlikely set of circumstances (and responses) that brought and kept the three characters together.

I thought the scenes where Walter learns to play the djembe were beautifully played; Walter's awkward but curious initiation to drumming and the (unexpected) expression of pure joy on his face while playing added believable depth to an otherwise restrained and austere performance.

Walter's exposure to the djembe perhaps underpins the films well-intentioned message – that our lives are enriched by living side-by side with other cultures. Good intentions aside, I think the second half of the film suffers because of the filmmaker's heavy-handed desire to go further and promote the idea that 'good people suffer in the hands of US immigration control'.

In my opinion producing a film with any agenda is problematic because it requires a degree of rationalisation and simplification which works against interesting characterisation. Life is very rarely straightforward – and when it is straightforward, it isn't interesting to watch.

In the case of the second half of The Visitor, I felt that this overarching requirement to show the characters in a positive light removed any sense of conflict the characters might have otherwise possessed. The story no longer had a life of it's own – and seemed to involve reaching a predetermined conclusion through any route possible.

The character of Tarek's (caring / strong / dignified) mother, fell short of the high-expectations that I'd built-up during the first half of the film. I felt her portrayal was lacking – and I didn't fully understand the function her character played. The subsequent relationship that develops between Walter and Mouna seemed gratuitous and left too many questions unanswered.

After watching this and Tom McCarthy's first film (The Station Agent), it's clear to me that McCarthy is an accomplished director / writer - who perhaps excels at directing character-based stories. I think this film suffers because halfway through the film McCarthy attempts to move focus from a rich exploration of character, to a slightly ill-conceived issue-based drama.

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed The Visitor.