The Visitor
October 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for. I don’t think that phrase originally referred to film, but it might as well. Often it is the simple movie, uncluttered with special effects or overacted drama, that sticks in the memory simply because its characters and situations are so real that an audience can identify completely with them. The Visitor is such a movie. I can clearly remember key scenes from it a day after I watched it, and I so liked the characters that I wish I could invite them over for dinner.

Richard Jenkins stars as Walter Vale, a 60-something college professor who has reached one of life’s dead ends. He has taught the same class for so long that he could do it in his sleep. His wife has passed away and in tribute to her musical artistry he plays her recordings all the time while furtively trying to learn piano himself. This seems a pathetic effort to recapture some sort of life, for Vale is a walking dead man, going through the motions yet seeming to feel none of their results.

He’s living in Connecticut, yet he keeps an apartment in New York City. He drops in to use it while in the city and discovers that an unscrupulous agent has rented it to a young couple. Walter’s first feeling is to see them out, and they are contrite and willing to be displaced, but something inside stirs and gets him to let them stay. The woman, Zainab (Danai Gurira), is Sengelese and makes native jewelry that she sells at a local flea market. The man, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), is Syrian and loves to play the djembe, a sort of tribal drum. He not only performs in a jazz bar but also likes to go to the park and participate in drumming circles. Walter picks up on the drumming rhythms and gradually Tarek includes him in his drumming activities. About the time everything is looking rosy, Zainab is arrested and Walter discovers that he and Zainab both are illegal aliens.

Jenkins, normally a character actor, gets his big chance at a lead role in this movie and he shines. Seldom have I witnessed acting so subtle and ingratiating. Walter’s re-entry into society is not rapid. When he first hears drumming, actually two guys in the park beating on plastic pails, we know that the rhythms get to him. Though his face is as ever, fairly blank, there’s something twitching behind his eyes. It’s halfway through the movie before this man smiles with anything other than politeness as his motivation. But grow he does, and suddenly we realize that we are hooked on this cast of three and are pulling for them. When Tarek’s mother arrives in New York, the number expands to four. Without getting up on a pulpit, director Tom McCarthy makes a strong case in favor of illegals simply by following the daily lives of his highly likable characters. All the actors are superb, but this is Jenkins' movie. He can do with a twitch of an eyelid what would take pages of histrionics from most of his peers.

It’s really a little surprising that this movie got a Blu-ray release since it is not big on action or visual effects. The picture is not up to par with the best that Blu-ray can offer, but it is quite acceptable. There’s a fair amount of grain and colors seem muted, though skin tones are excellent. The detail is about what one would expect from an upconverted DVD played through the Reon chip set. It’s not bad and were it a DVD the picture rating would be higher. The movie doesn’t call for a complicated soundtrack, either. Most of it is dialogue and that is very well handled and kept up front. The talk is clear; I didn’t miss a single word, and considering all the accents involved, that’s a good endorsement.

The extras include an amiable commentary track by McCarthy and Jenkins, some deleted scenes that add a bit more to our knowledge of the characters, a trailer, and a tutorial on playing the djembe. The main reason to watch this movie is for Jenkins’ performance. If there is any justice left in Hollywood, he should be nominated for an Academy Award (not to mention other awards) this year. It’s the performance of a lifetime.

Warning: Watching this movie might make you want to play an African drum. I’ve given it a lot of thought myself.

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