You may remember that Richard Jenkins, the male lead in this film, got nominated for an Oscar for his performance in this fine movie. The truth is, now that after I've seen it, I think he should have won it instead of Sean Penn. His performance is nothing short of miraculous. After years of playing supporting roles, and doing a damn fine job in them, this is his first major studio starring role and he nails it.The Visitor tells the story of a college professor who has pretty much given up on life. He just does the bare minimum professionally and socially to get by and he's pretty much shut himself off from the rest of the world. That is until he meets a young Muslim couple who are illegally subletting his New York city apartment. The prof sees that if he tosses them out that they will have no place to go so he lets them stay and because he lets them stay they befriend him, the boyfriend first, played winningly by Haaz Sleiman, and then his girlfriend, played by Danai Gurira. As their friendship blossoms Jenkins character becomes alive again and he begins to care about the world around him. The changes in him that Jenkins shows on film are something to behold, in fact what Jenkins does in this role is give a master class in film acting and he proves the old adages that when it comes to acting, 99% of it is reacting, and that less is more.
When his young friend gets picked up by the police for an infraction he did not commit we find out that the young couple both are in this country illegally. When he gets put in an immigration detention center his mother shows up and she and Jenkins strike up an unlikely friendship. In her role as the mother Hiam Abbass
nearly steals the movie from Jenkins. Her performance oozes truth and tenderness at every turn. And when she and Jenkins get close, you feel like cheering out loud for them because for once in a grown up movie the good guy almost gets the great gal.The film ends on a bittersweet note and it ended far too soon for my taste. I was so wrapped up in these honestly portrayed characters that I could have watched them for another two of three hours. I really can't recommend this movie highly enough. However, if you're into films where lots of shit gets blown up and people fire guns at each other in between bouts of 'witty' dialogue, then you'll hate this grown up thoughtful, thought provoking film.
