In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Saturday, 12 May 2012

THE VISITOR [2008]

Much like Thomas McCarthy's previous film, The Station Agent, The Visitor sneaks up on you, then floors you with it's thoughtful and emotional impact.
The story focuses on a lonely man who is introduced to the world of playing music at a late age and then the horrors of racial identity in a post-911 New York.
Richard Jenkins and Hiam Abass give in absolutely compelling performances that demand recognition.  It follows an obvious formula but McCarthy has a knack for evading all the cliches along the way and never comes off as phony schmaltz.

4 kick ass jam sessions out of 5

3 comments:

Marceline said...

I rented this on a whim, not even knowing what it was about. Really loved it. Richard Jenkins is great.

4 illegal apartment rentals out of 5.

Dr Faustus said...

Sounds good. Sometimes you can guess what you're going to get by the one-sheet. You can often spot a character based film on a shelf. I'd have given this some attention based on that alone. A good Nut makes it even more appealing.

cuckoo said...

I discovered The Station Agent on a whim. No idea what it was. All I knew Patricia Clarkson was in it. I loved her role in "Six Feet Under" so I figured it couldn't be all that bad.

Was very pleasantly surprised with it and it was intro to The Dinklage as well.

Thomas McCarthy is wonderful. With only this, The Station Agent, UP and Win Win on his resume he's 100% so far.