Completely successful film on every front. Soulful direction, Jenkins' mesmerising central performance, screenplay with depth, score with drumming perfect. With the situation in Syria still continuing these many years after the film was made and America's policy towards refugees tightening, the film's impact now is even more intensive.

10 years ago came out a little indie film whose biggest shock was having as lead actor the great Richard Jenkins, best known as a character actor in several projects through the years, from Coen brothers films to "Six Feet Under". And this surprising jump to the front row managed to be a successful one, he got what I thought it was impossible: Oscar nomination as Best Actor in a Leading Role. Certainly one of the greatest performances of all time but somewhat overlooked by audiences. And the movie was beyond great, it was a true spectacle of emotions, reality, relevance and certainty. Directed by Tom McCarthy right after the delicate and brilliant "The Station Agent" and light years from his magnificent "Spotlight", "The Visitor" is a true piece of cinema result of McCarthy's visit to the Middle East which widened his view on a different culture and made him aware of the obstacles foreign Muslims living in U.S. faced in the years that followed 9/11. A whole decade later and this little film feels more relevant now than it was back in 2007. It just needs to be rediscovered at this exact moment. Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a college teacher assigned to present a work in New York, something he isn't much proud of since he only co-authored the piece. A lonely, widowed man that seems to avoid the company of others, just trying to learn to play the piano in order to remember his deceased wife (a piano expertise). There he goes to the city, to an apartment of his that he barely visits and discovers that some strangers are in there, a Muslim couple, Tarek and Zainab (played by Haaz Sleiman and Danai Gurira). Even though the estrangement is the main thing for all the three people involved, Walter pity the couple's situation and allows them to stay with him. And as someone who barely gets out of his uncommunicative and protected shell, Walter turns to appreciate more the ones around here. He sees Tarek's drum and tries to play it. Next thing he knows, he's fully immersed in learning how to play it and develops a closer bond with the couple. Instead of walls, he makes bridges and that reflects in a positive way. Walter gets the chance to see life through a more positive and wider perspective, which fills him with joy, sincerity, making a better human being - not that he wasn't before, he was just trapped in himself without much caring for others. And yet we're not about talking those corny films that seem to answer about the questions of life, and we're not talking about a rich white man who discovers the real pleasures of life to obtain true happiness. "The Visitor" is about the possibilities one doesn't see but with minor reluctance allows this one to see and turn things better for everyone. Walter Vale's enlightenment comes not as Hollywood feels the need to show us; it feels genuine, day after day, knowing his "tenants" and seeing that they're people like him despite the cultural differences, religion and values. They're on the same roof and there's respect between all parts. Tarek and Walter playing drums on Central Park along with other players and a big crowd watching their performances has become one of the most significant sequences I've ever seen. A deep connection was formed between those two guys and it's when we're able to see the usually somber and distant Walter displaying a true sense of joy. But "The Visitor" isn't just about the surprising good side of events, it's also about a reality that changes the whole setting and if Walter never thought of those aspects before, now he got completely trapped by it: the post-modern world after 9/11. Without revealing much, Tarek is arrested and it's time to Walter to find ways to help his new friend who fears the possibility of being deported since he and his wife are illegal in the country. Then comes another contact to the teacher, Tarek's mom (the great Hiam Abbass), who learns of the whole situation and spends some time with Walter while both fight to release Tarek from jail. With that, Walter comes to fully observe the problems simple people face while trying to live their lives, without hurting anyone, and in a place that not only is different from their ideals and culture but it's one place that allows them to live in better conditions they had in their homeland. In 2007, this film was just a way to allow viewers to see how important foreign culture and presence in U.S. were; now, in our current time of a leader's wishes to avoid their entrance because the awful acts of a loud minority it feels more relevant and thought-provoking. It's hard not to talk about politics when it comes to films, specially this one, because that's just life. Politics is life and it molds our way of life even when we think we're so far from it. Walter embraces the unknown, the different and finds a purpose to his gray way of living. I guess this is a way of teaching us on how to view the world around us: to embrace the different view, to see that no way of life is better than the other but it's just a variant that works. It touches us into our core. McCarthy gets true-to-life and outstanding performances from his cast, but it's Jenkins who gets the spotlight. His Walter is a nuanced character that transforms before our eyes without that sentimental changing must films tend to do. We feel that he really learns something with that journey. And we learn it as well. 10/10

The film, The Visitor, opens with economics professor, Walter Vale, "auditioning" his fourth and final piano teacher. Walter, the widower of an accomplished classical pianist, tries to fill the void in his spiritless existence with the soundtrack of his favorite piano pieces; he proves ultimately unsuccessful in this venture. For several years, Walter had grown accustomed to the nightly ritual of eating alone, drinking a glass of red wine, and playing the bits and pieces of piano selections he had learned over time. Walter seems frozen in time, almost sleepwalking through his life. It is as if he is "visiting" his own life. Walter does not rest comfortably in his own skin, living what Oprah Winfrey refers to as his "best life." Walter resides there physically, but not emotionally or psychically. He is emotionally detached from the world he inhabits. Walter would prefer to insulate himself from the world by pretending to be busily preparing his fourth manuscript. A professional conference at N.Y.U. forces Walter out of the "ivory tower" into Manhattan, where with the help of his unexpected guide, Tarek Khalil, he faces the past, present, and future. Prior to meeting his new teacher, Walter had spent many years away from the Greenwich Village apartment he had once shared with his deceased wife. Upon returning to the apartment, Walter encounters two immigrants, Tarek (Syria) and Zainab (Senegal), living in his apartment as a result of a rent scam orchestrated by Ivan, a character we never see on camera. On the surface, these two "visitors" in Walter's life are living a much more fulfilled life than Walter. We soon discover that Tarek, a "citizen of the world," embraces people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and socio-economic, and religious backgrounds. In short, Tarek symbolizes our pre 9/11 America and its more tolerant attitude toward cultural diversity, and inclusiveness. This stands in direct contrast to the post 9/11, antagonistic, and suspicious view of immigrants who are seen as a threat to our sense of what it means to be an American. As Americans, we now feel forced to stand unified against future threats to our country. Before the horrific events on September 11, 2001, the concept of American pluralism was an unspoken "social contract" between Americans and any immigrant who reached our shores. This sentiment is best expressed by Emma Lazarus's words on the base of the Statue of Liberty, "…Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…." Walter, a native born American who not only has not visited the Statue of Liberty in person, is also unaware that visitors after 9/11 can no longer take the elevator to the top of Lady Liberty's crown. Not coincidentally, Tarek arrived in America prior to 9/11, and Zainab immigrated afterward. Their attitude towards their adopted country is reflected by this important distinction. In both cases, Tarek and Zainab enjoyed taking the Staten Island Ferry to view the Statue of Liberty. As Zainab recalled, Tarek would excitedly point to lady Liberty as a beacon of hope upon every viewing. Walter had never visited the Statue until accompanied by his two immigrant friends, Mouna and Zainab. As a well-educated, well-respected American, Walter did not need a symbol of liberty to reassure him of his place in America. Walter never had to question the inalienable rights granted to him by his forefathers, namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In his pursuit of happiness, Walter is freed from a self-imposed prison of malaise and despair when he befriends Tarek, who "teaches" him about life by giving him lessons on the djembe, an African drum. These drum lessons and Tarek's positive, life-affirming attitude fully transform Walter from a rigid, inflexible, emotionally shut down individual into a caring, thoughtful, sensitive "student" of life. Walter happily replaces the solitude of playing the piano with the collaborative nature of the drum circles in the park. The Visitor is an excellent film that challenges our notions of how America can reconcile the longstanding debate on immigration. Who are the real visitors to this country, both native and non-native born, and who have settled here and enriched our lives with their presence? Most importantly, who is to determine which immigrants should stay, and how can we ensure that this process upholds our principles of justice, fairness, equality, and liberty for all? The Visitor reminds us of some important lessons. We were not attacked on 9/11 by immigrants who already lived within and contributed to our country's success. We were attacked by well-financed terrorist groups that operated outside our country. Instead of indiscriminately turning our attacks inward, we need to be spending the resources to ameliorate the myriad of foreign policy choices that prompted the terrorist attack in the first place.

Sensitive or condescending, depending on your point of view, Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor" stars Richard Jenkins as a grumpy, white, elderly American who cuts himself off from other human beings and begins to fester in his own morbid isolation.Underlit, obvious and poorly shot, the film then watches as Jenkins connects with a series of ethnic minorities, all of whom are denied the privileges afforded to white power, and all of whom face unfair persecution in the wake of both 9/11 and George Bush's subsequent roll out of liberty-squashing, executive measures. Much of the film watches as Jenkins tentatively dips his toes in foreign cultures, learns to appreciate the simple joys of other human beings and learns to love Islamic immigrants.Jenkins' forced isolation, a kind of self persecution which he applies to himself due to the passing of his wife, is then mirrored to the "actual" isolation/persecution suffered by ethnic minorities at the hands of white power.While the film does well to humanize Palestinians, Syrians and Senegalese, there's something patronizing about framing this tale as a white man's journey. And for all its heavy handed symbolism, it's a simple line of dialogue in the film which touches us the most: "Don't forget about me in here," a Palestinian-Syrian man pleads, as he's locked away in a windowless detention centre. Though he spends his life writing about global conflict, Jenkins, a university professor, has never before come face to face with something so shocking: a vast power with the ability to render anyone invisible.6/10 – Worth one viewing.