The Visitor

Summer is the time for bad movies, blockbusters, big explosions, chase scenes, and comic/cartoon characters, when the out of school kids need something to occupy them. But that does not have to be the only choice. I think that if you only see one movie this year, so far, it should be The Visitor.

The Visitor tells the story of a middle aged professor, sleepwalking through his days, whose life becomes intertwined with a young couple trying to build a life together in New York, but living there illegally. Without giving away too much of the plot, The Visitor pulls back the curtain a little to show us the effects of America's immigration policies in the post 9/11 world where secret prisons and shadowy due process have become woven into the fabric of our way of life.

But this does not not do justice to the film, which infuses music with humor and melancholy in ways that all great films should do. It's nice to know that there are filmmakers out there taking on the big issues of the day and talking to us about them like we are adults. Writer/Director Tom McCarthy has done so with great subtlety and nuance that you probably will not get in Ironman and The Incredible Hulk, and actor Richard Jenkins' name will be heard a lot come Oscar time if there is any justice in the world(which there isn't, but I like the expression anyway).