VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Rainey Dawn A very intelligent and heartwarming movie. Sure it has it's comical moments but I could hardly laugh because I kept feeling sorry for the mute alien - he had no idea what was happening sometimes but he does learn fast. The movie is funny yet sad at the same time.Example of what I mean by funny yet sad: He's hungry and grabs a pear to eat, the store clerk gets upset grabs the pear from him and fusses at him, she then waits on a customer, the aliens see that money was handed to the cashier for pears, so the alien ends up opening the cash register to get money to give to the cashier for some pears. Of course she thinks he was stealing and all he tried to do was to give her money for pears. That's funny but it's also very sad to me... he was hungry and but didn't have a clue about money.During the whole course of the film, my heart kept going out to our mute alien. Sure I got some giggle from the movie but I kept feeling sorry for him - like I wanted to grab him and teach him things from our planet and to protect him. LOL.This is a good movie with some comical moments, some very sad moments and, I guess you can say, a lesson to teach us about our own society (from immigration to drugs).7/10

billcr12 John Sayles wrote and directed "Brother from Another Planet" on a budget of $350,000, money very well spent. Sayles also edited the film. Joe Morton is an "alien," this time in the literal sense. He escapes slavery from his planet and lands in Harlem, NYC, USA, EARTH.The writer-director also saves money by playing one of the bounty hunters tracking down the runaway alien. Morton is "Brother" and he is a deaf mute with telekinetic powers. He is chased by the men in black who are looking to return him to their home planet. Sayles has written a thoughtful and funny sci-fi black comedy and proves that money is secondary in the movie business.

ccthemovieman-1 Can you say "different?" Have often do you see a movie in which the lead character never utters one word?That's the case here, a unique story of an alien who crashes near Harlem, a famous black neighborhood in New York City. The alien is a black man, so he fits in despite not being able to speak! He's just looked upon as another "brother," as the title indicates.Two aliens come after him - white guys, naturally. In the Liberal world of films, white people are bad and black people are good 99 percent of the time.....at least when there is a contrast between the two. Writer-director John Sayles is a prime example of this type of racist thinking. But he wrote a fun film here, I have to give him that.Even though some of the scenes make absolutely no sense, it's an entertaining movie start- to-finish. Joe Morton plays the sympathetic alien with three toes and strange nails. You have to root for him because he's portrayed as such an innocent, harmless creature.The best part of the film is the humor, some subtle, some not-so-subtle. The guys in the neighborhood bar where the alien hangs out brought the biggest laughs.I find this a lot of fun to watch every three or four years.

bandw A space alien crash lands in the Hudson River and makes his way to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. This is not your typical alien - he is mute and can pass for a black human. This setup allows director Sayles to examine the human condition, as it exits in Harlem in the 1980s, from the most innocent of perspectives. I can't comment on the accuracy of the observations made in "The Brother From Another Planet," but I can say it is a fun movie that seems grounded in social reality.The fact that The Brother can't speak works in his favor, since people are quite willing to talk at him about anything and everything that is going on in their lives and they assume that his reactions are accepting and kindly. Maybe quiet listening *is* the way to win friends. The Brother has been pretty trashed by his fall to earth and upon arrival looks much like a homeless person. In no time he comes under the help of social services and its attendant bureaucracy - how easy it is for that to happen is the kind of social observation that runs throughout this film. The Brother has some special talents, like being able to heal wounds. In one of the most touching scenes he heals a minor scrape on the knee of a young kid and the kid just smiles and accepts it as a common occurrence - a testament to how open kids are to any sort of experience.The Brother is being pursued by two men from his home planet, the implication made being that they are trying to retrieve an escaped slave. The two pursuers are played by David Strathairn and Sayles himself. They are dressed in all black and seem to be a takeoff on John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in "The Blues Brothers." Their movements are choreographed in a synchronized way that has hilarious effect. They can speak, but are not much more familiar with human behavior than The Brother. In one scene at a neighborhood bar they are asked what they want to drink and, after some hesitation, they say "Beer," and then are asked what kind and say "Draft," and then add "On the rocks." This movie is not to be watched for any special sci-fi effects, which are not much beyond those in 50s B-movies, but rather for the keen observations and the winning performance by Joe Morton as the alien. Morton's performance is all the more admirable since, being speechless, he has to revert to the skills of the silent film actors to command our attention.I am still a bit mystified by the ending. It resolves the fascination the The Brother has with graffiti, but left me with several possible interpretations.