He reminded me of the African immigrant played by Souleymane Sy Savane in Ramin Bahrani's " Goodbye Solo " — a film that avoided the traps that "The Intouchables" falls into.
We’ve seen stories like this in the work of Sean Baker (“Tangerine,” “The Florida Project”), Ramin Bahrani (“99 Homes,” “Goodbye Solo”), Andrew Haigh (“Lean On Pete”), and other independent filmmakers.