Strike up the band

Catch up with "The Band's Visit" (⋆⋆⋆½, on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu), the 2007 film that inspired last Sunday's Tony Awards winner. Sharply observed, it's built on a small conceit: Egyptian police musicians are stranded in a backwater Israeli town and cross-cultural friendships grow like seedlings in a Dixie cup. This low-stakes affair succeeds on the strength of its unsentimental tenderness, with a flair for visual comedy that softens its message- mongering about our fundamental humanity.

COLIN COVERT

Coming Tuesday

"Pacific Rim Uprising"

"The Death of Stalin"

"Alex & Me"

"Midnight Sun"

"Paul, Apostle of Christ"

"Unsane"