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| | | | | | | | |  | | | | | Richard Jenkins and Haaz Sleiman in 'The Visitor.' | | | | | Photo by: Courtesy | | | | | | | | | |
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| | 'The Visitor' is strong follow to 'The Station Agent'
May 8, 2008
By Dryw Keltz
- La Jolla Light
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Five years ago writer/director Thomas McCarthy released "The Station Agent." While not an independent sensation along the lines of "Juno" or "Little Miss Sunshine," " The Station Agent" did find an audience - especially after its release on DVD. The film followed the unlikely friendship of a dwarf, the driver of a mobile hot dog van and a divorcee grieving the loss of her only son.
It was a pretty simple, albeit strange, concept. It worked on the charm of its individual characters. It was tough to believe this odd threesome could become such tight friends.
McCarthy darkens the tone a bit this time out with "The Visitor" - another film around the central theme of odd friendships.
Richard Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a college professor who teaches in Connecticut but owns an apartment in New York City. Vale is rarely in the city these days, so the apartment is nearly always vacant. Well, anyway, it's supposed to be.
Unbeknownst to Vale, a young immigrant couple has been living in his apartment for some time.
Tarek Khalil (Haaz Sleiman) and his girlfriend Zainab (Denai Jekesai Gurira) are the couple. They were told by an apparently shady associate that the unit was a rental.
When Vale travels to New York City for a conference, he enters the apartment to find a young woman taking a bath in his tub.
The situation instantly escalates. Tarek arrives to hear his girlfriend shrieking in horror. He physically confronts the now equally terrified Vale.
These three become the unlikely friends at the heart of "The Visitor."
The force that bonds the two men is a love of music. Vale has been trying for some time now to learn how to play the piano. Tarek plays the djembe in a couple of jazz combos which perform around town and is surprised to find Vale becoming extremely interested in his drumming. Tarek begins to give Vale some lessons, whose loose tone is the polar opposite of the stiff lessons of Vale's piano instructors.
This leads to some of the film's most ingenious scenes. Vale, always clad in a business suit, rolling with the uber-hip Tarek and performing in public drum circles in New York City.
Sprinkled amidst the main storyline are a number of post-911 scenarios which question how we judge our fellow city-dwellers in these increasingly paranoid times.
The final act brings adversity that even more deeply binds Vale and Tarek, and it is in this final act that McCarthy's brilliance as a writer/director and Jenkin's incredible portrayal of Vale merge. They make this one of the first great films of 2008.
It's slow at points, but it's tough not to be moved by this little gem.
Dryw Keltz
Dryw Keltz reviews films for the La Jolla Light. To make comments about articles, contact talkback@lajollalight.com.
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