I came to The Visitor ready to love it because I had greatly enjoyed the Station Agent and had heard good things about this. Certainly few people have a bad word for the film (well, few people worth reading anyway) and it is with a certain amount of heavy heart that I find myself not able to agree with them. On the face of it this film is about two things. The overwhelming thrust of the film is about the awakening of the main character from his years-long slumber. His work has become an easy routine and he has been able to hide behind a fictional "book project" as a way of doing even less. Attempts at finding something creative to bring a bit of meaning to his life have yet to come together and it takes a chance meeting with two illegal immigrants to bring that out of him. And thus the other theme of the film is the immigration policy and how it treats people.
OK so in the cold light of day we have a fairly standard character device (the self-discovery/reawakening) and on the other we have a topical subject that deserves some discussion. What a killer then that neither of these two things really work either independently or together. The problem appears to be just how subtle the film is and how very delicately it deals with everything. Some have attacked it for being a liberal guilt film and, while I would normally hate such a criticism, I can see where they are coming from with this because it is so painfully slanted towards the vibrancy and significance of alternative cultures that it is a bit like sitting with a middle-aged white woman with African masks on the wall of her expensive home. Fortunately for the film this side of it is greatly helped by a very fine performance from Jenkins, who is subtle and believable in how he changes, even if on paper it doesn't work that well.
Jenkins cannot do it all though and he cannot prevent the second half of the film from convincing less and less as the relationship with Tariq's mother develops. Nor can he help the immigration side of the film. This side is a real weak piece of commentary. McCarthy is so careful to avoid politics and making statements that he totally fails to have any point in what his film is doing. I wasn't looking for the film to have a manifesto to it but without coming at the subject hard, or making a point more specific than "place of birth does rather dictate quality of live and that's not really fair is it?" he makes the film a lot duller than it should be. It is a real shame because at times his characters work well together but he loses them in this bigger picture while also failing to do anything with the bigger picture. Sleiman is charming and charismatic alongside Jenkins and the two work well together. I also liked Gurira with her mistrusting character and difficult edge. Abbass is a bit too simplistic of a character and her performance matches this.
The Visitor is not a bad film by any means, it does have a certain charm to it, particularly in the first half. However the second half see immigration a bigger theme but has little of interest to say of the subject, while Walter's "journey" becomes less convincing and less engaging as a result. I'm glad many consider it a thing of beauty to be held for the ages, for me it was a very limp affair that squandered its opportunities.
OK so in the cold light of day we have a fairly standard character device (the self-discovery/reawakening) and on the other we have a topical subject that deserves some discussion. What a killer then that neither of these two things really work either independently or together. The problem appears to be just how subtle the film is and how very delicately it deals with everything. Some have attacked it for being a liberal guilt film and, while I would normally hate such a criticism, I can see where they are coming from with this because it is so painfully slanted towards the vibrancy and significance of alternative cultures that it is a bit like sitting with a middle-aged white woman with African masks on the wall of her expensive home. Fortunately for the film this side of it is greatly helped by a very fine performance from Jenkins, who is subtle and believable in how he changes, even if on paper it doesn't work that well.
Jenkins cannot do it all though and he cannot prevent the second half of the film from convincing less and less as the relationship with Tariq's mother develops. Nor can he help the immigration side of the film. This side is a real weak piece of commentary. McCarthy is so careful to avoid politics and making statements that he totally fails to have any point in what his film is doing. I wasn't looking for the film to have a manifesto to it but without coming at the subject hard, or making a point more specific than "place of birth does rather dictate quality of live and that's not really fair is it?" he makes the film a lot duller than it should be. It is a real shame because at times his characters work well together but he loses them in this bigger picture while also failing to do anything with the bigger picture. Sleiman is charming and charismatic alongside Jenkins and the two work well together. I also liked Gurira with her mistrusting character and difficult edge. Abbass is a bit too simplistic of a character and her performance matches this.
The Visitor is not a bad film by any means, it does have a certain charm to it, particularly in the first half. However the second half see immigration a bigger theme but has little of interest to say of the subject, while Walter's "journey" becomes less convincing and less engaging as a result. I'm glad many consider it a thing of beauty to be held for the ages, for me it was a very limp affair that squandered its opportunities.