A gentle drama about a bereaved and isolated college professor’s emotional reawakening after his experiences with a Syrian émigré, his African girlfriend, and his loving mother, MCarthy’s follow-up to the indie hit The Station Agent (2003) certainly wears its liberal guilt about post-9/11 racial profiling and hysterical treatment of immigrants on its sleeve, but its emotional undercurrents and genuine humanity wear well. Richard Jenkins is one of those veteran actors who you can immediately recognize as familiar, but rarely put your finger on exactly where you’ve seen him. If there is any justice in the universe, The Visitor should change that. (Hollywood Jewel 16, Waco, TX)