The Visitor
My first thought when The Visitor showed up from Netflix (I tend to forget about movies I add to Netflix and they show up and I have no idea what they are) was that it was a horror movie but it’s anything but.
The Basics: A lonely man by the name of Walter comes back to his New York apartment that he hadn’t been to in a while to find a couple staying there. It turns out that they were led to believe by a con-man that this was a furnished apartment for rent. Walter initially askes them to leave but when he realizes they have nowhere to go he invites them to stay.
The Good: There are so many good things about this film I don’t even know where to begin. The main character played by Richard Jenkins (you might know him from Six Feet Under) was such a wonderfully understated character that somehow you could feel every emotion he was feeling at every moment. I just adored the other characters especially Tarek (played by Haaz Sleiman) who had this personality that just lit up the screen and was such a genuine character and the mother (played by Hiam Abbass) who I just fell in love with. I wasn’t sure about the girlfriend Zainab (played by Danai Jekesai Gurira) at first but I realized she was just very untrusting for good reasons. Everything about this movie was really wonderful.
The Bad: There was nothing I didn’t like about this movie but some people might find it too slow. I liked the pace though, it moved in a very smooth direction.
The main character is Richard Jenkins. He’s a favourite of mine. Completely under appreciated.
Robin Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 10:43 am
@Gwen, Thanks, I left the spaces in this to fix before I posted and forgot.
I remember seeing the previews for this. Looks excellent.
Robin Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 10:43 am
@Avitable, it really is, let me know what you think if you see it.
I loved this movie with a passion. Great call.
Robin Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am
@kapgar, awesome!