Wish you weren't here
An illegal-immigration movie you’ll want to see
The Visitor
Written and directed
by Thomas McCarthy
Starring Richard Jenkins,
Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira
and Hiam Abbass
Rated PG-13
7.5
Goes well with: The Station Agent, Under the Same Moon, Born in East L.A.
Thomas McCarthy has made two films that stand out not just for their sharp, emotional observations, but also because of the lead actors. Instead of focusing on the traditional movie star, McCarthy—himself a trained actor who earns most of his paychecks for his work on the screen rather than behind the camera—writes for performers he admires who aren’t the traditional leads and then lets them flex their acting muscles.
In The Station Agent, he turned 4-foot-5-inch-tall actor Peter Dinklage into a star. Now, in his sophomore feature, The Visitor, McCarthy does the same for Richard Jenkins, the longtime character whose face is immediately familiar if not easily placed (he’s probably best known as the dead father on Six Feet Under). Jenkins is Walter Vale, a professor who teaches economics at a Connecticut school who has found himself adrift following the death of his wife. He isn’t particularly interested in his work and aspires to play the piano, his wife’s instrument, but isn’t very good at it. Walter is searching for some sort of inspiration, but he is a sad, sad man.
Sent to New York to deliver a paper at an economics conference, Walter discovers a young Muslim couple, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira) living in the apartment he has kept for better than two decades. It’s all a genuine misunderstanding—the apartment has been illegally rented to them, and, after an initial confrontation, the two pack their things and move to the sidewalk across the street, where Tarek pulls out his phone and desperately tries to find a place for them to sleep that night.
If you’ve spent time living in New York, you know that scaring up a place to stay is tough. Space is at a premium. Guest rooms don’t exist in most income brackets. One of the great things about Walter, and Jenkins’ portrayal of him, is that although he may be unhappy, he isn’t unkind. So, it isn’t a surprised when he lets the couple back into the apartment, at least for the night.
Tarek is an infectiously pleasant young man, making his living drumming in combos throughout the city. And after a couple of days, he shows the reluctant Walter how to play. And it’s soon clear that Walter has found his inspiration. He can’t leave his conference fast enough to get home and start playing, and he eventually follows Tarek to a jam session in Central Park. This is truly the happiest Walter has been in years, so it’s a shame that on the way home, a mix-up about subway fares gets Tarek arrested. A huge shame, in fact, because he’s here illegally, and it’s not long before the young Arab is in a detention center under threat of deportation.
Tarek fits a dangerous profile—he’s a fit, 20-something Arab. But he’s also lived in the United States since he was a boy, when his mother left Syria after his father was killed by a brutal regime. He is an immensely likeable, very decent person, and once he’s in custody, there’s very little Walter can do other than hire a lawyer, visit him and offer what is likely false hope.
McCarthy has put a human face on immigration, especially once Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives in New York, seeking word of her son. No matter your politics, it’s hard to feel that deporting Tarek is the right answer, but it’s difficult to see how else it can play out. It’s all anchored by Jenkins, who’s unlikely to ever get another part this good, this sad and subtle and inspiring, because parts this good don’t come along very often. But it’s to McCarthy’s credit that Jenkins gets the opportunity, because the director wisely casts the spotlight of this post-9/11 movie on people rather than politics.
Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Published: 04/22/2008
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