Film review: Bit player Jenkins offers stirring lead in ‘Visitor’

[nineten]

......The story gets heavy-handed in its indictment of the cold, impersonal bureaucracy behind U.S. immigration policy, but McCarthy thankfully avoids preaching too much, keeping the focus on his characters.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080411/ENTERTAINMENT/392233326

[nineten]

Immigration-angled 'Visitor' connects on emotional level

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2008-04-10-visitor_N.htm

[nineten]

Sweet land of liberty

..............It's tempting to describe McCarthy's movie as a story about the effect of draconian post-Sept. 11 immigration laws on individuals, but this would make the movie sound like the kind of issue-driven movie that plays like a scolding and feels like a chore...

..............His immigration status is learned and he is transferred to a detention center. The World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty can be seen standing side by side on a mural on the wall at the detention center where Tarek is being held..

The mural seems to represent the fulcrum on which "liberty" became post-Sept. 11 "freedom," as in the stuff our military spreads by force.

It hovers over the detention center waiting room - a vale of frustration and despair if there ever was one - in sharp contrast to the awe-inspiring statue.

http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/ENTERTAINMENT/804250310/1164