The Visitor (2008)

"The Visitor" is a quiet, thoughtful study of a lonely middle-aged widower whose life is re-sparked after he finds two illegal immigrants in his NYC apartment, and soon becomes involved in their plight with the INS. It's also an awesome, even-handed film for liberals who deeply love their country, and still believe that the sign on the Statue of Liberty welcomes foreigners with open, loving arms.

Richard Jenkins, the brilliant character actor of a thousand films ("Burn After Reading" and "Rumor Has It" among them) stars as Walter Vale, an apathetic college economics professor who has been sleepwalking through life probably since his pianist wife died untold years ago. In New York City for a brief academic conference, Walter returns to the apartment he hasn't visited in months. There, Walter surprises husband and wife Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira), he from Syria and she from Senegal, who are living outside the law. Apparently, an "Ivan" has subleased the apartment to the couple, although this is oddly never explained or investigated.

Walter kicks the couple to the curb, probably the immediate response anyone would take. But, Walter quickly changes his mind after he realizes Tarek and Zainab will be homeless, hopefully the response anyone with a kind heart (be they Christian, Muslim, Jew or atheist) would take. The full-of-life Tarek, he is the opposite of Walter, plays a tall African drum in a jazz-infused band. Hungry to pick up a musical instrument, Walter shows interest. But just as Tarek is teaching Walter to master the instrument, Tarek is picked up by police for a crap violation. Tarek then is shipped to an INS center in Queens. It's here where this quiet, peaceful drama takes a harsh emotional until the inevitable end.

I don't want to give too much away about this well written film, but Walter's re-birth is beautifully realized and post-9/11 politics are smartly questioned. Once he lets his guard down, Walter finds a new love of people and self that he's probably forgotten or never had to begin with. This film isn't a bash session against America. This movie loves America as much as "Rocky," but is disappointed in its exclusionary policies. It's not all sugar sweet, director/writer Tom McCarthy ("The Station Agent") shows the initial mistrust and uneasiness that comes when two differing cultures meet.

The last scene is the most bittersweet, but uplifting, ending I've seen since "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." (Although no where near as good as the golden classic.) Try not to cheer through those tears. Jenkins is amazing. A-