Oscar Watch: The Visitor

Who is Richard Jenkins?

That’s was the question I had when I watched The Visitor, where Jenkins is nominated for Best Actor. I’ve never heard of the guy before but when I looked him up I realized I’ve already seen him in another Oscar Watch movie: Burn After Reading. In fact he’s been in quite a few films and TV shows, but hasn’t had a leading role until now with The Visitor.

Jenkins plays Walter Vale, a Connecticut College professor who owns an apartment in New York City. When he returns to it after an extended absence, he encounters Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira), two illegal aliens, whom have lived there for a couple of months. Seeking a change in what has become a stalled and mundane life, Jenkins allows them to stay and Tarek and Zainab help change his life into something more satisfying.

The transformation of Vale is subtle yet striking as we see him start  as a quiet and mild mannered professor who struggles at the Piano and finish as a drummer with the bravery to yell at the government system and play the drums with the passion and zest he’s been looking for. Midway through the film Tarek’s mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) notices that Walter has gotten a new pair of glasses, a physical sign that Walter has turned a new leaf.

Vale is much like Jenkins, from interviews I’ve watched of him he’s just as quiet and mild mannered however you can tell that he’s genuinely excited  to be nominated and is very humble in his hopes of winning. He is exactly what you want in an Oscar underdog. He’s not the A-List celeb like Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, just an veteran actor who has excelled in an understated role. Dave Karger writes that Jenkins is the underdog that we are all rooting for- I wouldn’t take it that far. He’s certainly the underdog but I don’t know how much rooting is going on there with such strong performances from the heavy hitters.

The Visitor is a moving story in a simple package that will leave audiences feeling good. I think the film should of gotten some Oscar love in the writing department. I mean who doesn’t love a well told story about an encounter that has changed a man’s life forever?

Related posts:

1. Oscar Watch: Changeling
2. Oscar Watch: The Wrestler
3. Oscar Watch: Frozen River
4. Oscar Watch: Happy-Go-Lucky
5. Oscar Watch: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button