The Visitor: Richard Jenkins' Role of a Lifetime

This heartwarming and provocative film by actor-director Thomas McCarthy has many more subtexts than main texts, but the main message of the film, for me, is the way that middle age can become not only a terrible bore for a seemingly secure man but how it can be transformed into a new beginnning for those willing to be open to that new start. Along the way to this message are several subtexts: the way strangers meet and affect each other, the unfairness of our immigration system, the difficulty but promise of intercultural communication. But the "takeaway" message (don't you hate that word "takeaway," which now inhabits glib-speak in our culture?) focuses on what there is increasingly a lot of in our days--successful late 50s/early 60s men who aren't ready for retirement but don't seemingly have the energy or courage to change from their cushy lifestyles and face new challenges in life.

Exploring the Theme

Let's explore that theme with a few words about the lead character. Prof. Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) is a 60 year-old economist, who has been teaching at Connecticut College for at least two decades. He reshuffles his syllabi, makes only half-hearted attempts to lecture well, is unsympathetic to students and generally has lost any fire he might have had for teaching. To top it off, he is only teaching one course this particular term because he is supposed to be finishing a book (his fourth) on some aspect of global economics. He is also a widower, and we get the impression that some of his aimlessness in life results from being alone.

A younger colleague has authored a paper, to which Vale has attached his name (to give the colleague broader recognition), but she is on maternity leave and Vale is forced to go to NYU to deliver the paper. He really doesn't want to do so but in the end has little choice. Upon arriving in NYC, about 100 miles away from home, he pulls into his city apartment, only to find that it has been illegally rented out to a couple, who turn out to be illegal immigrants from Syria and Senegal. Misunderstandings fly, but soon Vale has invited them to remain at his place until they can find alternative lodgings. While there, the man (Tarek, played wonderfully by Haaz Sleiman) gradually introduces the art of djemba-playing (African drums) to Walter and Walter is surprisingly captivated by this form of communication, where thought is left at the door. We can see Walter gradually "loosen up" as he explores this new and strange world for him.

Unexpected Development

The action builds as Tarek becomes detained by NYC subway police when he seemingly enters the subway without paying. It comes out that he is in the country illegally, and he is shipped to a detention center in Queens, administered by a private corrections company. Walter is quickly drawn into the drama surrounding Tarek's detention, as Zaineb (the Senegalese girlfriend) and Mouna (Hiam Abbass), Tarek's mother from MI, become increasingly agitated at his demurrage. But most interesting is the way that Walter attempts to rise to the occasion to help Tarek. He hires an immigration attorney to help out; he visits him daily; he supports the women in Tarek's life. Indeed, one realizes a growing irony because the field of Walter's expertise, international trade, is shown to be an abstract and ho-hum world for him, whereas the real international trade (in human beings being detained and sent back) is right before his eyes. But he is powerless to effect any change for Tarek, who eventually is deported to Syria.

Staying on Message

What makes the film brilliant and utterly convincing for me is its portrayal of the way that the time in a man's life from about 55-65 may be about the most perilous time of all. It is so not because he faces sudden illness and death, which is always a possibility, but because he faces a crisis of meaning that goes right to the heart of his personal and professional identity. By the time a man reaches 55, he should be at the "peak" of his productivity and profession. The rules are written for men like this. They teach only one or two classes a term (five or six hours per week in the classroom) and pull down six figure salaries for so doing. They know how the "system" works, and can get by with astonishingly little work. But if the man is honest with himself (and many men are not), his life has long ago ceased to have any spark to it. He has "sold out" to a system of comfort and protection, burying himself and whatever longings that once tugged at his heart deep into the bowels of the inner person. He hangs around people like himself, and there is a subtle contract not to bring up the question that nags most deeply at the heart--have I really given up my desire to live, create and develop myself to the fullest?

But then, something comes into one's life. Maybe it is a new woman (Walter is widowed) or an unexpected encounter. Walter begins by not being "open" to any kind of change; he simply feels he is doing the right thing by offering to let Tarek and Zaineb remain at his apartment. But little by little he lets himself be open to the world that seemingly has long ago perished for him. And, at the end, he becomes an engaged and creative man--or so that is the impression the movie wants to leave with us.

Conclusion

I long ago gave up the comfortable world of institution life. Maybe that is an overstatement; I was never really comfortable in it, though many men find it quite to their liking. I have been trying to "make my way" for a few years now, and I am so glad I have done it. But most men my age don't do so. They have "so much to lose" by leaving the lives they are living now. They have to make money so they "don't end up on the streets." But they never will end up on the streets, even if they stopped work today and spent the rest of their days finger-painting. Yet, the allure of the predictable is strong, even though there may be a voice within that says that it is really very good to pursue another path. The Visitor gives hope--that the new path is there, and that it is one that can enliven one's existence. I hope that more men in my "age cohort" discover this to be true.

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