I watched this by my lonesome on January 5, 2010.
Written by: Thomas McCarthy
Starring: Richard Jenkins
Plot synopsis:
A grumpy old white guy makes friends with a charming young foreigner.
Walter is a college professor who leads a lonely existence. He has to go to New York for a conference or some shit. When he arrives at the apartment that he owns but never visits he finds Tarek and Zainab living there. They were victims of a scam or something and thought they were renting it legally. Walter invites them to stay because he is just that lonely. Walter has a love for music and Tarek is a musician so they build a friendship off of that and Tarek starts teaching him how to play the African drum. One day in the subway station Tarek gets arrested because it's post 9-11 and he's Syrian. Walter finds out that Tarek is an illegal immigrant and is being held in an immigration prison. Tarek's mother shows up unexpectedly at his door, worried because she hasn't heard from her son. Walter and Tarek's mother forge a cute relationship as they bond over Tarek's horrible situation.
A grumpy old white guy makes friends with a charming young foreigner.
Walter is a college professor who leads a lonely existence. He has to go to New York for a conference or some shit. When he arrives at the apartment that he owns but never visits he finds Tarek and Zainab living there. They were victims of a scam or something and thought they were renting it legally. Walter invites them to stay because he is just that lonely. Walter has a love for music and Tarek is a musician so they build a friendship off of that and Tarek starts teaching him how to play the African drum. One day in the subway station Tarek gets arrested because it's post 9-11 and he's Syrian. Walter finds out that Tarek is an illegal immigrant and is being held in an immigration prison. Tarek's mother shows up unexpectedly at his door, worried because she hasn't heard from her son. Walter and Tarek's mother forge a cute relationship as they bond over Tarek's horrible situation.
Review:
This had the potential to be a very average meaningless movie but thankfully it wasn't. The relationships aren't exactly believable but so what. The characters are all extremely likable so you care about what happens to them. The story of Walter and his sad little life is simply used as a way to meet and get to know these characters and is ultimately unimportant. What makes this movie good and important, and it is important, is what happens to Tarek. This is the only movie that I've seen or at least that I can currently recall that deals with these issues. The issues of racial profiling, abuse of power, the loss of rights, and the hysteria about illegal immigrants in a post 9-11 America. More than anything though, this movie is about empathy. Which there seems to be a great lack of today in America. Probably in the rest of the world too but I don't really know or particularly care because I am after all American. Fuck Yeah! In summary go watch The Visitor, it's enjoyable.
This had the potential to be a very average meaningless movie but thankfully it wasn't. The relationships aren't exactly believable but so what. The characters are all extremely likable so you care about what happens to them. The story of Walter and his sad little life is simply used as a way to meet and get to know these characters and is ultimately unimportant. What makes this movie good and important, and it is important, is what happens to Tarek. This is the only movie that I've seen or at least that I can currently recall that deals with these issues. The issues of racial profiling, abuse of power, the loss of rights, and the hysteria about illegal immigrants in a post 9-11 America. More than anything though, this movie is about empathy. Which there seems to be a great lack of today in America. Probably in the rest of the world too but I don't really know or particularly care because I am after all American. Fuck Yeah! In summary go watch The Visitor, it's enjoyable.
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