Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins, from TVs “Six Feet Under”) is a recently widowed, bored professor who teaches only one college class on auto pilot while supposedly using his other time to write a book. 

When forced to attend a conference in NYC, he goes to his vacant apartment he’s had for more than 25 years, and he’s surprised to see that someone has sublet the place to a young couple. The woman is from Senegal and the man from Syria, and both are in the country illegally. 

A cautious friendship slowly develops between the three, while the subjects of loneliness and immigration knit the story together. Humor and love are only a thread away from anguish and heartbreak. 

Fine acting in a tale of modern day America provides a movie that is sentimental in a very unsentimental way. Other than Jenkins, the cast is unknown; yet still quite powerful. The depth of character development brings you to care very much about people and the importance of realizing what is going on in the world. We see a person who came to the U.S. after the Twin Towers fell in 2001, and now he   feels like it is home. We realize that grave catastrophe occurs and life goes on. 

The Visitor is director Thomas McCarthy’s second feature. His other film, The Station Agent, brought to the screen another trio of outsiders. 

This is a real audience favorite.