The Visit

Rating:
Summary: YOU HAVE NOT SEEN A MOVIE LIKE THIS!!!!!
Review: Let me begin by saying, "I have never seen a movie like this!!" From the very beginning, I fell in love with this movie. Every actor and actress gave a stellar performance! Hill Harper has shown why he is the "next best thing." Billy Dee Williams hasn't given this good a performance since Mahogany. The lighting, the make up (I won't say how because it will give away the movie) and the director's vision is excellent. In this day of big budget movies that try to move you, independent films like this shows how a movie is supposed to touch and move you!!

Rating:
Summary: If there is a VHS tape, buy that!
Review: My reviews and ratings are based on DVD quality, not dramatic content or performance.

The DVD is terrible and claims to be 16:9 -- it's not that. I don't know what the aspect ratio really is. I'd also like to know where the Dolby "surround" sound is because I didn't hear it. It is in a limited stereo, however -- that's for sure, because a few times the character's voices were coming from the wrong side of the screen! Pleasant!

The picture is blurry at all times; the DVD must have been made from a mini-tape transfer. In several instances characters are talking but there is background music instead. Also, during scenes and conversations the picture will fade out completely and back in again. Is that supposed to enhance the film? I found it very annoying. Perhaps the actors did not memorize their lines sufficiently to continue. Did they have to change the tape or something?

"The Visit" was based on a play, so that explains why there are few sets.

As mentioned in my title, I would buy a VHS of this movie if you really want it. You'll really be settling for poor quality if you purchase the DVD. It's a shame, too, because I really enjoyed the characters and the actors portraying them. I was looking forward to something of quality. Then again, you could just look at the very nice, glossy snap-case while you listen to the film. That would be an improvement, believe me!

Rating:
Summary: Will Change the Way You Think: That's Powerful
Review: 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.



Rating:
Summary: I am rating the video not DVD
Review: Simply stated, this video was an excellent story without gratuitous violence and character destruction. I enjoyed the perfomances of all of the actors. This was a powerful story that demonstrated how a condemmed man could impact the lives
of his family in a wonderful way. I regret that I did not have the opportunity to view this video in the theatres.

Rating:
Summary: I am rating the video not DVD
Review: Simply stated, this video was an excellent story without gratuitous violence and character destruction. I enjoyed the perfomances of all of the actors. This was a powerful story that demonstrated how a condemmed man could impact the lives
of his family in a wonderful way. I regret that I did not have the opportunity to view this video in the theatres.

Rating:
Summary: A universal story all can relate to.
Review: Somewhere, in every family, there's an ache to be healed

Seeing a movie of this caliber was a pleasant surprise.
Hill Harper will be a major leading star in the very near future. While the most obvious comparison is to think of the next Denzel Washington, I think he will take a step forward, just as Denzel did from Sidney Poitier. Harper's strong performance in the TV show City of Angels and his debut feature film Loving Jezebel gives you a glimpse into his potential.

His acting is exceptional, without the need for giving speeches like many of the current crop of better actors such as Denzel Washington, Kevin Spacey and Nicholas Cage. As I was looking at this film, I was reminded of Denzel in Hurricance. Not because of the similar prison setting, but because of the depth of the character being shown in a confined space. Jordan Walker-Pearlman's directing compliments Harper's acting, effectively using flashbacks and luminous dream sequences.

The supporting cast is excellent, creating an ensemble film. Obba Babatunde, Rae Dawn Chong, Billy Dee Williams, Marla Gibbs and Phylicia Rashad all provide memorable performances. Billy Dee even makes up for his shameful supporting, "I really need a paycheck," role in The Ladies Man.

In The Hurricane, the primary villain was a racist white policeman and an insensitive judicial system. In The Visit, the biggest enemy starts out as Alex himself. As in the phrase, "still waters run deep," The Visit is about so much more than a conversation between two people sitting on different sides of a table. Every family has room for a spiritual awakening and there are doors that you may wish to reopen once you see this film.

George O. Singleton © 2000
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Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Riveting! Emotional!
Review: The Visit is an excellent film about choices, family, love, forgiveness, and understanding. The story is told through an original mix of flashbacks, dreams, and the present. This well written, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted independent film is the reason that I have always and will continue to support independent films. I highly recommend the Visit.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful Acting, Powerful Film
Review: The Visit is an extraordinarily powerful film. Hill Harper is a great young actor, Billy Dee Williams has not been better in many years. The film is almost claustrophobic at times because everything is so tightly filmed in the prison, but that becomes symbolic of Alex's (Hill's) state of mind. Despite is angry, raging exterior, Alex is a hurt, lonely little boy. He reminds us that those people who we see as intimidating are often scared and attempting to protect themselves from further hurt.
I've showed this film in a college classroom with social work students, and there wasnt a dry eye in the place.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful Acting, Powerful Film
Review: The Visit is an extraordinarily powerful film. Hill Harper is a great young actor, Billy Dee Williams has not been better in many years. The film is almost claustrophobic at times because everything is so tightly filmed in the prison, but that becomes symbolic of Alex's (Hill's) state of mind. Despite is angry, raging exterior, Alex is a hurt, lonely little boy. He reminds us that those people who we see as intimidating are often scared and attempting to protect themselves from further hurt.
I've showed this film in a college classroom with social work students, and there wasnt a dry eye in the place.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This movie is just beautiful. The portrayals were the absolute best and I wasn't disappointed. You have this brother who has AIDS in prison. His father, who didn't give him no support when he needed it, will not visit him in prison until the brother(Obba Babatunde) asks them to. I believe the reason he asks the family to come is because he knew the end was coming, and in his own way he wanted to make peace. In some of the scenes, he baits some of the folks, I felt that was a waste of time, but other than that, it was good. One of the best, and one of the most underrated movies that is out there.