The Writer-Director of The Station Agent Returns With Another Fine Ensemble Drama.
In his second stab at writing and directing, veteran character actor Thomas McCarthy continues to demonstrate the same potential for subtle brilliance that he revealed with the little seen but masterfully executed The Station Agent.
The Visitor centers around Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins), a distinguished but disaffected college professor left thoroughly broken by the death of his wife. When ordered to present a paper in New York City, Walter discovers two illegal immigrants living in his perennially empty apartment in the city – Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a vivacious Syrian musician, and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab (Danai Gurira). Despite the initial awkwardness, the two men bond easily, as Tarek instructs the professor in playing the djembe drum. When Tarek is arrested for an innocent misunderstanding, the young man is confined to a detention center for illegal aliens. As Walter struggles to secure the release of his new friend, he finds himself falling for Tarek’s heartsick mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass).
While the film deals with weighty and timely subject matter, to his credit McCarthy mostly (but not always) eschews delving into agitprop. Instead, the immediacy of the immigration problem is primarily conveyed through the very personal interactions between the characters without removing the action to an extraordinary setting (like Gavin Hood’s similarly themed and otherwise excellent film Rendition). McCarthy also wisely avoids a potential (and predictable) plot twist, in the process forsaking a contrived and irresponsible happy ending in favor of a poignant conclusion with no definite resolution. This approach may be inconclusive from a narrative standpoint, but it underscores the realism of the plot itself as well as the seemingly interminable nature of the issues addressed.
Its undeniable political bent aside, The Visitor also operates successfully as an interpersonal drama about overcoming the inertia of loneliness and depression. Admittedly, the friendship between the loner Walter and the outgoing Tarek superficially resembles the relationship between Peter Dinklage and Bobby Cannavale in The Station Agent, but the decidedly dark turn of events in The Visitor quickly juxtaposes the standing of the two films’ analogues. When Walter suddenly finds himself thrust into the role of caretaker, he rediscovers something invaluable that he’d lost - purpose. His subsequent evolution into an impassioned father figure becomes all the more heartbreaking as that purpose is unceremoniously stripped from him at the film’s climax.
Since McCarthy himself is primarily known as an actor in character-driven dramas such as The Wire and Good Night and Good Luck, it’s no surprise the film is littered with compelling and nuanced performances. Jenkins’s stoic awkwardness aptly belies the timid Walter’s eagerness to help. Abbass provides a perfect counterbalance by concealing her intense frustration through layers of quiet dignity, while Gurira’s perpetual discomfort subtly reveals a degree of trauma that is only hinted at rather than played for pathos. Perhaps the most difficult role belongs to Sleiman, whose infectious charisma and warmth convincingly earn the distress of the other characters. And Jenkins’s longstanding role on Six Feet Under aside, the comparative “unknown” status of the ensemble promotes a sense of authenticity to the story that becomes positively engrossing as the story develops.
Patiently relevant and moving, The Visitor is a welcome alternative to much of the loud popcorn fare currently dominating theatres. Time will tell if McCarthy will make the same mistakes as other young directors of his generation like Wes Anderson or P.T. Anderson, but with two accomplished, craftsman-like films already to his credit, his future looks promising indeed.
- Steve Kabel
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