Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008

With all the summer blockbusters rolling through the megaplex like hot weather thunderstorms, sometimes a bright sun shower of a movie can be a nice change. The Visitor is one of those - a sweet and satisfying diversion.

It's also refreshing because it gives a rare opportunity for an instantly recognizable actor a chance to lead - Richard Jenkins is the star - you may not know the name, but you absolutely will place the face. Usually playing a detective, a doctor or a father, this super-seasoned talent finally gets his due. He plays Professor Walter Vale, an aging Connecticut college instructor who has lost everything, from his beloved wife to his interest in his work. Aimlessly staring out the window, he watches students revel in their youth with a stoic face that belies an obvious longing for the spark those kids have.

His boredom is so complete that when his superiors tear him away from whiting out the date on last year's syllabus to recycle it for this years students, it hits him like a hammer. Yet, they insist he present a paper at a conference in Manhattan, where the prof used to live with his wife in an apartment he still owns. So he painfully heads off, keys in hand to a door he hasn't opened in many years, so many years in fact that crooked landlords have been secretly renting it out - a fact he discovers upon entry. The current squatters - Muslim couple Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira) - have no idea they've been duped, so they quickly depart. But Walter is very curious about them, and when he sees they have nowhere to go, he offers to let them stay until they can scare up new digs.

Vale is especially drawn to Tarek, admiring the African drum he plays in jazz clubs. Before long, the two men are spiriting around town, taking in street musicians in the subways and parks. But, unfortunately for the young Middle Eastern drummer, a glitch in a turnstile and some profiling by transit cops ends up landing him in jail. It turns out Tarek is an illegal alien, brought here by his mother, and has been living as an American for many years. But in a post-9-11 NYC, he finds himself victim of a system that shows no mercy. His wife is an illegal too, thusly unable to visit her beloved as he sits and stews in a Queens holding pen.

Meanwhile, Walter, rejuvenated by the appearance of these two in his life, uses his resources to try and free Tarek. His efforts are frustrated by the legal process, and he seems almost ready to give up - heading back to the lonely and unencumbered life he's been living - until his own personal miracle happens: Tarek's mom, Mouna (the warm and radiant Hiam Abbass), arrives looking for the son who stopped calling. This tough yet tender lady shoots Cupid's arrow directly into Professor Vale's atrophied heart, and he is, simply put, reborn. With his jailed friend's life in shambles, Walter is once again ready to live again, ready to love again, and ready to fight. But is it in time?

There has been a bit of a political backlash concerning this film's harsh take on both the U.S. government's treatment of illegal aliens and people of Middle Eastern descent, contending with perceived profiling and government bureaucracy. And whether or not these things actually happen as portrayed in this movie, it's really just a device and, in this story, is no more political than Darth Vader or the bad guy in the black cowboy hat. No, this is a story of redemption, of a man whose obvious wonderful-ness was squashed when he lost the light of his life. But exposed to other's peril, even that of complete strangers, he is snapped back into reality when given a chance to care about someone else, which is a similar happenstance of director Thomas McCarthy's last lovely little pic The Station Agent. In that film, a reclusive Peter Dinklage is forced to reconcile with his stymied sensitive nature when he's suddenly thrust into the life of a grieving Patricia Clarkson. In kind, Jenkins' Walter Vale is given a new lease on life, and it's really uplifting to see both the actor and the lead character in this movie receive a new and very big chance to shine. As Agent did for Dinklage, hopefully this nuanced turn will open new doors for Richard Jenkins as well.

Ian Stark is a frequent TV and radio commentator on the film industry, and consults with private organizations on their collections. He is widely published on film and other arts/culture topics.