The Visitor

This is an absolute gem. With a plot involving an emotionally repressed widower who comes to life via the power of music, and the illegal immigrants he befriends, it could have been terribly worthy and po-faced. However, it never does quite what you expect. Walter's attempts to follow in his late wife's footsteps by learning to play the piano come to nothing, but surprisingly he finds himself fascinated by the djembe drum played by Tarek, and even more surprisingly has an aptitude for it. From being a disconnected, disinterested presence in his own life, he starts unsconsciously tapping out rhythms during banal activities and slowly rejoins the world - friendship, a rather touching not-going-anywhere not-quite-romance, and a sudden outburst of anger at the sheer idiocy of American official bureaucracy. The potential melodrama of the arrest and deportation of Tarek is downplayed, letting the viewer simmer with their own indignation at his fate, and by extension that of his girlfriend (also illegal so unable to see him again) and his mother (another illegal alien), who leaves the country she's made her home in order to be with her son, knowing she can never return. Throughout, there's a wonderful strand of humour, particularly from Richard Jenkins' pitch-perfect performance. Just watch him join the drumming jam session in the park, or drift into domestic life with Tarek's mother. He's the heart of the film although the rest of the cast of equally fine.