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Brother from Another Planet, The

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by Rob Gonsalves

"Fine little oddity from Sayles."

Don’t be put off by the title of this social comedy by John Sayles (no, it's nothing like 'Homeboys from Outer Space.'

Joe Morton gives a great silent performance as an alien who lands in Harlem and has little trouble fitting in because he looks like a black man. He finds work magically fixing arcade games, falls in love with a nightclub singer, and evades two alien pursuers (David Strathairn and Sayles himself, both hilarious), who seem to have learned English from bad TV cop shows.

The movie takes a left turn into moralizing when the alien decides to do something about the neighborhood’s drug problem, and there’s a bit of a plot hole: given that the alien’s pursuers are white-skinned, and given the suggestion that he was a slave on his home world, why doesn’t he fear the white people he meets on Earth? I’m not sure I get the ending, either. But Sayles works best when he simply puts the silent alien in various situations and sees what happens.

An atypical and interesting piece of the Sayles portfolio.

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originally posted: 04/05/07 15:02:32

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User Comments

5/29/09 R.W. Welch Immaginative. Has a certain off-beat appeal to it. 4 stars

5/13/08 CD booooooooring 1 stars

3/14/08 Random stakes a place among my favorite films of the 80s 5 stars

4/11/05 tatum A really wonderful film, Morton should have won an Oscar 5 stars

4/12/04 Mr X Get out and watch this movie right now. Right now! Don't argue, right now. 5 stars

9/15/01 BILL BISSELL Bad DVD transfer though. 5 stars

5/06/01 Charles Tishman A fascinating look at the plight of an escaping slave, in a Sci-fi setting 4 stars

5/15/00 Traeray Although this is not his best film by any means, its very funny and campy and watcheable 4 stars

1/04/00 Nice Guy Eddie A wonderful movie, saw it as a kid and remember it vividly to this day... 5 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA 02-Feb-1984 (R) UK N/A Australia 02-Jul-1984

Directed by John Sayles Written by John Sayles Cast Joe Morton Liane Alexandra Curtis Reggie Rock Bythewood David Babcock Leonard Jackson Jaime Tirelli

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