The Visitor

Jul 4 2008 by Peter Leathley, The Journal

(1hr 46mins) Starring: Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira. Director: Thomas McCarthy

FROM the director of the Oscar-nominated The Station Agent comes another beautifully-observed slice of life – albeit an empty one.

Widowed economics professor Walter Vale (Six Feet Under’s Richard Jenkins) is a man going through the motions, with a job and students he no longer cares about; a classical music collection which no longer moves him; and no passion – or talent– for the piano lessons he’s taking. But then Walter is jolted out of his static existence when he’s sent to present an economics paper in New York.

Once there he heads for the long-neglected apartment he shared with his late wife – only to find it’s occupied by illegal immigrants Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a musician, and his reserved girlfriend Zainab (Danai Gurira), the victims of a property renting scam.

Due to a rare show of compassion from Walter, the three outsiders end up unlikely room-mates and Walter’s home – and life – start to fill with music and colour as they slowly find common ground.

In this creative company, Walter masters the art of drumming – only by taking Tarek’s advice to simply not think while playing.

The film hasn’t one dubious performance in it. Jenkins and Sleiman complement each other perfectly and watching the expressionless Walter emerge from his shell is a feel-good high.

But you know it’s going to go wrong and it does, when Tarek ends up in a detention centre and faces deportation.

The arrival of his attractive mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) adds another dimension of possible joie de vive for Walter – as he acknowledges the emptiness of his life – but the balance of happiness, as in real life, hangs by a very fine thread.

Walter’s frustration as he rages at the system is in sharp contrast to Mouna’s quiet resignation and speaks volumes of the chances of one individual in the face of soul-less bureaucracy.

Barbara Hodgson