The Visitor Gets Five Stars

If you haven't heard of this movie, you soon will.  The Visitor is being touted as an Oscar contender for best drama and for best actor (Richard Jenkins).  I, quite frankly, had never heard of it when my husband turned it on at 10pm last night.  Although it was released in April, I was completely unfamiliar with it. So, the only expectation I had was that I'd fall asleep before the final credits.  However, I was riveted from the get-go and have chalked The Visitor up as the best drama I've seen, so far, this year. 

The Visitor tells the story of a Connecticut professor, a depressed widower (Jenkins),  who makes a trip to Manhattan to present a paper at NYU.  While there, he has a surprise encounter with a couple, a Syrian man and an African woman, who he ultimately befriends, and who change his life. Both my husband and I sat on the edge of our seats without a word spoken throughout the entire movie (usually I am complaining about how bad the movie is and he is saying "shhhhhh!").  The story is compelling and heartwarming and the acting (except for veteran character actor Jenkins, they're all unknowns) is excellent. The movie also makes you think about the multi-cultural world we live in and how people from other countries must feel trying to find their place here.

It's nice to know that a movie without a single explosion, car chase or crash, or murder can still get made. With The Visitor, it's all about the story and the acting.  Go figure.