The Visitor Review

Connection is everything

Director: Thomas McCarthy
Release Date: 18 April 2008 (USA)
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 104 min



This Tom McCarthy Drama popped into my must watch list after comic con as the leading man in the movie is Richard Jenkins who will be playing "The Father" in the American remake of Let the right one in(Let me in) and he looked perfect for that role. After watching The Visitor i must say he is a splendid actor.

Dr Walter Vale's is asked to head to New York City to attend a conference about a book he helped co write. He doesn't feel the need to attend this conference but his boss gives him no other choice but to travel to NYC.

When Walter arrives at his old place in New York he finds that some one has turned it into their home. Zainab played by Danai Jekesai is taking a bath and is scared to have Walter walk in on her. Tarek played by Haaz Sleiman is introduced in this scene as well. As the movie goes on we see Walter change as a character, Something I dont often see in movies these days or at least not done as well as it was here. Going from an old lonely man to someone who has found new meaning in his life.

The cast is wonderful and plays well with one another, The musical scenes add a nice touch of depth to the movie. Going from one music type to another as the story unfolds.

Tarek and Walter are bonding well until the cops take Tarek in after jumping the broken turnstile in the subway. The story takes another turn this time into a political crime movie, but dont let that scare you away. Tarek's mother joins us late in the film to yet again build another character and complete another.

Very hard for me to tell you about this movie as its something of character that just unfolds as you watch it, The drama part of it will definitely turn people away but if this is your type of movie it will keep you in. The music that brings the whole film together is amazing. As is the acting of Richard Jenkins as Walter.

Tom's writing is amazing given the depth of the script and the things he was able to play across in his characters is just amazing in of its self, He can make you feel emotion within the people he has in front of you without needing to really tare your heart out like most drama films do. Add that he has some fine camera work that shows of the beauty of New York City as well as nice frame work.

Learn to love and accept could be the motto in this film, Connection in people is something it does well. for this reason alone i highly recommend movie goers to enjoy the character build that this movie brings and to enjoy the bond of the visitor.

It is a crime movie of sorts as i also noticed IMDB listed it as one but dont expect it to be more crime then drama.

I understand i said Character alot in this review but that was because this movie is full of it and most people will over look it because it isnt about the Blood or sex or violence in this movie. Also a bit of a strange film to review post Comic Con but as i stated above I did have a reason because of Mr Jenkins getting the role in "Let Me In" which i think will be a perfect character for him.

Let me know if you connected with the movie or was it something you would ship away.

Kontroll Review

Murder. Mystery. Romance. Just another ride on the subway.

Director: Nimród Antal
Release Date: August 30, 2005 (DVD)
Run Time: 105 minutes
Rated: R
Language: Hungarian
-Subtitles: English
*Alternate title: Control

This is the Directorial debut of an American director born Hungarian,Nimrod Antal. Its very interesting to note that his first movie is a Hungarian film. Something most people dont seem to know even exists.

The film is crafted around the dark world that grows from the Budapest underground metro. With that said the whole world we are pushed into is stunning. The camera work is near perfect, always showing off every aspect of the surreal lighting and gloomy tunnels that are beneath the earth. I can not tell you how wonderfully shot this movie is, At first all the close ups and the way the film is was...Nothing special but it surly became more.

Kontrol was not the movie i expected going in at all, I thought it was something else and I was greatly surprised by the movie in all parts. I was indeed expecting a type of crime thriller but what i received was indeed different.

The story of the film is that Bulscu is a Control ticket agent working in the Budapest Metro, His job is to ask everyone if they have a ticket to ride the subway and if not he must cite them. He has a team that we grow to know in such a short time period, The rookie of the group Tibi, is without a doubt my favorite character, As we follow his story to learn his new job. Of course the focal point of the movie is not about Citing people for lack of a ticket but figuring out this world we are now living in.

Action scenes are not rare in the movie, We meet a character named Bootsie, who is pure adventure and action. A very fun character that brings the team together in a race of whose better. Without a doubt the best part of the movie comes from this character for multiple reasons.

I really dont want to dive all that much into the movie but i must say they do give us a bit of everything, With the action i have already mentioned we also get a slight knock of a love story as well, For some reason it just fits perfectly, very limited to what happens but it brings things together.

Horror is something I was not really expect but I guess this is also the area that the Thriller aspect comes into play and I must say it played excellent. The creepy lighting in the tunnels add to the hooded villain perfectly. Some place that someone like this could grow.

Music is a very strange thing in this movie, but at the same time everything seems a bit out of place but manages to crawl together to help us understand what in the world is going on. The costume party rave scene wouldn't be the same without the music or the lack of clarity in the scene, Adds a great amount of tension to the scene. As does the music in the scenes with Bootsie. Perfect use of music and the sounds from the Metro work so well together its perfect.

This movie is from Nimrod Antal, Which i had stated already, the reason I bring it up again is because he has a movie in theaters at the time of this review called "Predators" Which i have also reviewed earlier on the site. Nimrod is at his best in Kontrol and i would highly recommend this movie over Predators any day.  Nimrod shows he can give us a bit of everything in a low budget film not of the Hollywood standards. I'm glad he has been given the chance to do other things in Hollywood and he did a solid job with Predators but i wait for his Great American hit still.






Get in Kontrol and let the subway run free on your mind.