The Visitor

This is by the same director, Thomas McCarthy, who did "The Station Agent" (Erin's pick a while back), which I thoroughly enjoyed. I saw "The Visitor" last night, with sky-high hopes. Alas, this latest effort doesn't hold a candle to "Station Agent." Dang! It has some of the same charm — an unlikely collection of people thrown together to forge unlikely relationships; moments of quiet, poignant humor; insights about how we're all really the same despite seeming so different — but it lacks any kind of forward thrust and becomes fairly tedious about halfway through, in addition to having a kind of naive political agenda and a hugely unsatisfying ending. It's worth seeing for the superb acting of Richard Jenkins in the lead role, but it has little else to recommend it. I think it's garnering a lot of praise, though, so if anyone sees it and concludes I'm full of crap, please let me know.