The Visitor (2008)
92 %
Reviews Counted: 92 Fresh: 85 Rotten:7 Average Rating: 7.8/10
Consensus:
The Visitor is a heartfelt, humanistic drama that deftly explores identity, immigration, and other major post-9/11 issues.
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Theatrical Release: Apr 11, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $9,234,510
Synopsis: In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut The Station Agent, Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira
Director: Tom McCarthy
Screenwriter: Tom McCarthy
Producer: Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London
Composer: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Screenwriter: Tom McCarthy
Producer: Mary Jane Skalski, Michael London
Composer: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Pre-order it on DVD
Reviews
The tension dips occasionally but stick with it and you'll be richly rewarded.
Comment
08/18/08
Beautifully cast and superbly performed, The Visitor never steps off the mark either emotionally or in character development. Richard Jenkins, usually in support roles, rises to the lead occasion with grace and a marvellously restrained performance
08/07/08
This is an exquisite and subtle character portrait and all the performances are wonderful.
08/07/08
The Visitor presents a rich, complex world where people connect in unexpected ways. It is a fitting follow up to the themes McCarthy covered in The Station Agent.
06/08/08
...extremely well-written and well-acted, but it was far too politically biased...it reminded me of a Soviet or Chinese Communist propaganda film.
06/08/08
Surefire material to pluck the heartstrings and for thesentimentally inclined, but...
06/06/08
For those who want to see slowly evolving character studies that are very rewarding, THE VISITOR is a bullseye.
06/04/08
The beautifully restrained performance by [Richard] Jenkins is the anchor of a film built around complex characters and quiet moments.
06/02/08
The charms and wonders of the film lie in the performances of the leads, all of whom are better than perfect -- they feel real.
05/28/08
...a literate and low-key character study of an ordinary man in depressingly average straits.
05/23/08
Cuts across one of the West's most contentious political issues without ever getting political. And it features a terrific lead performance from Jenkins.
05/22/08
Beautifully acted and staged, but at odds with itself: the emphasis is not on the 'visitors' but on the uptight professor, who experiences a spiritual rebirth thanks to the life-affirming presence of his new Third World friends...
05/20/08
Sophisticated, timely and compelling, it's a quintessential post-9/11 drama.
05/15/08
It’s almost funny how often and how closely The Visitor teeters toward cliché, only to deliver one gently genuine moment after another.
05/12/08
The Visitor might unite both sides of the illegal immigration debate - at least for two hours.
05/12/08
Jenkins, a veteran character actor perhaps best known as the dead father on Six Feet Under, gets the role of a career here...
05/09/08
The Visitor may not have any big names in its cast, but it certainly makes up for that by having a lot of character.
05/08/08
Related Forums
(2008 release/Rated PG-13)-Tom McCarthy's "THE VISITOR"-Humane story of Complex human
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
(2008 release/Rated PG-13)-Tom McCarthy's "THE VISITOR"-Humane story of Complex human
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
(2008 release/Rated PG-13)-Tom McCarthy's "THE VISITOR"-Humane story of Complex human
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
(2008 release/Rated PG-13)-Tom McCarthy's "THE VISITOR"-Humane story of Complex human
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
by: REEL_REVIEWER 8/17
Trailers & Clips
News
Thomas McCarthy Joins 2012
posted by July 02, 2008
Thomas McCarthy, the writer and director of The Visitor, has joined John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, and others...
posted by July 02, 2008
Thomas McCarthy, the writer and director of The Visitor, has joined John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, and others...
Edinburgh 2008: What to Watch
posted by RT Staff July 01, 2008
We share twenty of the best films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently running in the...
posted by RT Staff July 01, 2008
We share twenty of the best films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently running in the...
RT's First Critical Consensus Award to be Presented at Edinburgh Film Festival
posted by Joe Utichi June 18, 2008
A panel of leading film critics will present the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award 2008 to one of a shortlist of...
posted by Joe Utichi June 18, 2008
A panel of leading film critics will present the Rotten Tomatoes Critical Consensus Award 2008 to one of a shortlist of...
Richard Jenkins steps up in The Visitor
posted by April 07, 2008
There is no such thing as a Richard Jenkins movie, though he's been in more than 70 of them. Even in his best-known role --...
posted by April 07, 2008
There is no such thing as a Richard Jenkins movie, though he's been in more than 70 of them. Even in his best-known role --...
IGN RSS Feeds