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The Visitor

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The Visitor (2008)

92%
96%
88%
N/A
N/A
92 %
Reviews Counted: 88 Fresh: 81  Rotten:7 Average Rating: 7.8/10
 
Consensus: The Visitor is a heartfelt, humanistic drama that deftly explores identity, immigration, and other major post-9/11 issues.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for brief strong language

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Theatrical Release: Apr 11, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $7,651,884

Synopsis: In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut The Station Agent, Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is... In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut The Station Agent, Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City.

Sixty-two-year-old Walter Vale (Jenkins) is sleepwalking through his life. Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, he fills the void by unsuccessfully trying to learn to play classical piano. When his college sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a Syrian man, and Zainab (Danai Gurira), his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him.

Touched by his kindness, Tarek, a talented musician, insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum. The instrument’s exuberant rhythms revitalize Walter’s faltering spirit and open his eyes to a vibrant world of local jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. As the friendship between the two men deepens, the differences in culture, age and temperament fall away.

After being stopped by police in the subway, Tarek is arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation. As his situation turns desperate, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend with a passion he thought he had long ago lost. When Tarek’s beautiful mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives unexpectedly in search of her son, the professor’s personal commitment develops into an unlikely romance.

And it’s through these new found connections with these virtual strangers that Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life. --© Overture Films
[More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira

Director: Tom McCarthy
Screenwriter: Tom McCarthy
Producer: Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London
Composer: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
9/10

The Visitor presents a rich, complex world where people connect in unexpected ways. It is a fitting follow up to the themes McCarthy covered in The Station Agent.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/08/08
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image
7/10

...extremely well-written and well-acted, but it was far too politically biased...it reminded me of a Soviet or Chinese Communist propaganda film.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/08/08
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times
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3.5/5

Surefire material to pluck the heartstrings and for thesentimentally inclined, but...

Full Review | comment Comment
06/06/08
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
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3.5/4

For those who want to see slowly evolving character studies that are very rewarding, THE VISITOR is a bullseye.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/04/08
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine
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N/A

The beautifully restrained performance by [Richard] Jenkins is the anchor of a film built around complex characters and quiet moments.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/02/08
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine
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4.5/5

The charms and wonders of the film lie in the performances of the leads, all of whom are better than perfect -- they feel real.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/28/08
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
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B+

A gently moving film that can warm your heart as easily as break it.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/25/08
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
Ratings Image
91/100

...a literate and low-key character study of an ordinary man in depressingly average straits.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/23/08
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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4/5

Cuts across one of the West's most contentious political issues without ever getting political. And it features a terrific lead performance from Jenkins.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/22/08
Rich Cline
Film Threat
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3/4

Beautifully acted and staged, but at odds with itself: the emphasis is not on the 'visitors' but on the uptight professor, who experiences a spiritual rebirth thanks to the life-affirming presence of his new Third World friends...

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
05/20/08
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
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C+

... I almost want to regurgitate that shawarma I once ate.

Full Review | comment 6 Comments
05/17/08
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
9/10

Sophisticated, timely and compelling, it's a quintessential post-9/11 drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/15/08
Susan Granger
SSG Syndicate
Ratings Image
4/5

It’s almost funny how often and how closely The Visitor teeters toward cliché, only to deliver one gently genuine moment after another.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/12/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review
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3/4

The Visitor might unite both sides of the illegal immigration debate - at least for two hours.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/12/08
Christian Toto
Washington Times
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3/4

Jenkins, a veteran character actor perhaps best known as the dead father on Six Feet Under, gets the role of a career here...

Full Review | comment Comment
05/09/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Ratings Image
3.5/4

The Visitor may not have any big names in its cast, but it certainly makes up for that by having a lot of character.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/08/08
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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4.5/5

As close to a perfect movie as we're likely to see this year.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/03/08
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
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3.5/4

(Richard) Jenkins doesn't waste a motion or a word while bestowing on us an introspective acting clinic. They don't call them character actors for nothing.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/08
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News
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3/4

At first glance Walter isn't a guy you want to spend two hours with. But by the end of the film, you don't want to see him go. Jenkins is like that: He sneaks up on you and steals your heart with light-fingered skill.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/08
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

The Visitor is a tiny treasure of a movie. This is a wistful comedy that quickly finds its rhythm, but never lets that groove become a rut.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/08
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
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