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The Visitor

Editorial Review

Actor turned writer/director Tom McCarthy follows up his stunning indie debut The Station Agent with another witty drama. Anti-social professor Walter (career character actor Richard Jenkins) isn't particularly interested in anything at all. His uneventful, solitary life is momentarily interrupted by a conference, which takes him to his second home in New York. Upon arrival, he discovers a young illegal immigrant couple living there.

After hesitantly allowing them to stay, he bonds with happy-go lucky drummer Tarek (the charismatic Sleiman), particularly over a shared love of rhythmic drumming.

Their odd-couple friendship is charming and uplifting, even when events take a turn for the worse and Walter is met with an opportunity to shake off apathy. McCarthy makes a serious point about immigration without losing his lightness of touch, and he's assisted by terrific turns by Jenkins and Sleiman.

The tension dips when Tarek's mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass), arrives and the film threatens to descend into cliché, but stick with it and you'll be richly rewarded.

Anna Smith

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