With the release of the first pre-Oscar award nominations, the Gotham Independent Film Awards, the fantastic indie that no one is talking about, Tom McCarthy’s “The Visitor,” scored nominations in both the Best Picture category and Best Ensemble Performance. The lead actor who plays the part of the emotional disconnected professor perfectly, Richard Jenkins, didn’t get nominated but we (and others) think he will be included if “The Visitor” continues to pick up steam come Oscar time.
“The Visitor” follows a disenfranchised economics professor coping with the loss of his wife. He visits his apartment in New York City to attend an academic conference only to find two Islamic immigrants inhabiting it. In a bizarre turn of events he eventually lets the couple stay with him, and befriends them, learning to play drums with one of the guest. Things take a turn for the worse though when one of them is picked up on the subway for jumping fare and launches a series of events that proves to be one of the defining moments in every one’s life.
The film was released way back in early 2008, so it has been suffering from the fact that the little attention it had upon the release has died down. The film, aside from being a moving story about a man struggling to move on with life after the loss of his wife, is also a subtle post-9/11 political screed. We highly encourage anyone who gets the chance to see this movie. It is a wonderful example of minimalistic independent filmmaking at its best, which will hopefully (but must likely not) get the praise it deserves come Oscar season.
Jenkins is consistently turning out good work (not to mention he’s always funny in Coen Brothers films). He might not eventually get the Oscar nod, but it’s not to see him get a little recognition as this character actor s long overdue for real plaudits. BTW, if you haven’t seen Tom McCarthy’s previous film, “The Station Agent,” you should, it’s tops. One of our favorite indies from 2003.