Film Review: “The Visitor”
The first thing I noticed: “The Visitor” – the word is singular, not plural. Watch the movie and indeed, you begin to wonder: who is the visitor here? While it is true that the theme of the square, stuffy, middle-aged white man in a suit who finds his soul with an infusion of Third-World soulfulness can come across as sentimental and condescending, McCarthy has created a believable world, setting up his despondent protagonist in a believable manner – the Man - is broken. And he finds his healing among immigrants – illegals for that matter. That is when the story takes an interesting political turn as he re-finds his voice, his anger, his passion, his life. One would think the charitable benefactor the hero of this story, thus repeating the condescending and predictable narratives that we’re used to. But remember: he is broken – so alone. He’s the hero, but he’s also the Visitor – which shows the helper / helpee distinction is blurred. No theology of condescension here; rather – a theology of ascent.
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