The Visit

I saw this movie last Sunday at the Method Fest in Pasadena, CA. While I must admit that I went simply because Hill Harper was in it, it turned out to be an excellent movie. It moved me. It made me cry, laugh and think. Billy Dee Williams and Marla Gibbs reminded me, in some respects, of my parents. Rae Dawn Chong also reminded me of a relative. Hill Harper's character moved me most, you feel his pain, you know his character is innocent. He is an excellent actor and I'd really like to see much more of him on the big screen.

The synergy of the entire cast was wonderful. They fed off of each other's energy. But of course, without a wonderful director, there is no wonderful film. I would really like to see this film again, I'd like to own a video copy. I hope this film can find it's way into major theaters, it really deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

THE VISIT / (2000) **1/2 (out of four)

By Blake French:

"The Visit" is based on a stage play by Kosmond Russell, which itself was inspired by personal experiences with his brother in an Ohio prison. Director Jordan Walker-Pearlman added characters from his own circle of experience and synthesized the play with another previously written story to create the screenplay for "The Visit"

"The Visit" is a unique, original experience. It is not merely a prison drama, but a deep, human, passionate story about finding spiritual renewal and inner peace. Jordan Walker-Pearlman had good intentions with this often intriguing motion picture and incorporates solid voice. The movie also embarks the first full-length motion picture from Urban World Films, a new independent film company created to distribute and market minority movies.

The film stars Hill Harper as Alex Waters, a young man sentenced to 25 years in prison because of a rape he insists he did not commit. Alex spends his endless hours behind bars, with only one companion: his prison psychiatrist, Dr. Coles (Phylicia Rashad from "The Bill Cosby Show"), who strives to give Alex a greater awareness of himself.

The movie takes us inside a tortured family including Alex's successful older brother (Obba Babatunde), his unforgiving, controlling father (Billy Dee Williams), and his loving, passionate mother (Marla Gibbs). Along the way we also meet a childhood friend of Alex, an incest survivor named Felicia (Rae Dawn Chong). These characters are forced to reexamine their stance on Alex when they visit him for the first time in a number of years, only to learn he is dying of AIDS. "The Visit" is a smooth ride; there are no road bumps, awkward moments, undeveloped characters, or major plot problems, but something about it kind of feels distant. I think it's the various ideas in the thematic basis that are never completely explored. For instance, Alex insists that he never raped anyone-a massive point. But we never learn the truth, or any important information involving this issue. We don't see why he was convicted or what really happened. A plot hole this big is surely a conscious decision by the filmmakers; they probably thought this was unimportant, and wanted to focus on the movie's emotional, family, and spiritual themes. But whether he did or didn't brutally rape a woman is definitely important. For us to be involved we need to care for the main character, and I do not usually empathize with convicted rapists.

The spiritual aspects are also unclear. We know Alex's family is religious, and we know at the end Alex becomes a changed person because of his spiritual conviction, but we never see those changes. It is a crime for us to spend 107 minutes with a character as complex as Alex, and hear that he experiences complete transformation, but never see it. These little plot holes really skewer the impact of the narrative.

"The Visit" is not without its redeeming factors. Hill Harper ("He Got Game"), who received the Emerging Artist Award at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2000, provides us with a captivating, personal performance. Billy Dee Williams is also in top form, giving a stark, controlling edge to his character. The supporting cast is also very convincing.

"The Visit" contains good morals and a neat style. The format for the storytelling is unusually engaging. The film exposes Alex's inner emotions with fantasy scenes involving him and the different people in his life. Walker-Pearlman and cinematographer John Demps also work hard to create alternatives to the typical cuts back and forth between two characters sitting across from each another. I give the filmmakers credit for tying to produce a movie with a fresh flavor, but we don't fully absorb what we taste here.

Easily Hill Harper's best role. African-American movie that really touched me from the bottom of my soul. It's very artistic expression, and strong philosophical approach in the discussions when Visited in prison, brings really something to hold and build on too. Also the sickness he has, and knowing that he will die there, plus his rejected parole on top of everything... just a set of tragic motions. Getting closer with your relatives in prison than outside has been important subject for every prisoner who has nothing but time to kill. Definetly one of my favourite prison movies ever.

"The Visit" tells the story of a young convicted rapist and AIDS victim (Harper) in prison, the visits he receives from family and friends which resurrect old issues, and his final quest for resolution and purpose. On the upside "The Visit" is a solid drama which is short on entertainment and long on meaning, interspersed with surreal dream-like sequences, backed with a plaintive jazz score, cloaked in very unprison-like atmospherics, offers excellent performances, and avoids cliches and stereotypes. However, the film's theatrical presentation and somewhat vague purpose may limit audience appeal to more serious minded film goers and fans of the players. (B)

This movie will change the way you think.

Sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit, Alex (HILL HARPER, He Got Game) must now fight to win his parole. His fight, however, is not with the prison authorities, but with himself. From behind the jail cell bars Alex looks on at the middle class life he left behind and his brother Tony (OBBA BABATUNDE, Life) who now has everything Alex does not. Visits from his parents (BILLY DEE WILLIAMS, MARLA GIBBS), his childhood sweetheart (RAE DAWN CHONG) and the prison psychiatrist (PHYLICIA RASHAD) start to rebuild Alex. Each visit teaches him to love not just the world, but himself. As this spiritual adventure of the heart reaches its unexpected climax, Alex shows us how we can all become better people when we face the demons inside us.

I really, really love this film, and think I am much better off for having seen it.