Great to see images of NYC/Harlem from back in the day. Humor is very clever and subtle. Very entertaining film!
Added 5/17/2009
Based on what I'd read about this film previously, I was pretty sure I'd like it. Well after seeing it just now, I liked it much more than I expected. The humor in this film is so well done...from the physical manner in which the other "white aliens" carry themselves, to the conversation of the secretary inside the Marine Midland Bank office ("...he wears these shirts with epaulets on the shoulders..."). Great casting all around. This movie also sends a message about "the man", and his contribution to the black community's drug problem.
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Totally unexpected!
Added 4/22/2009
This movie is SO cool in so many ways:
The DVD playback quality is surprisingly good considering the age of the movie.
The intermingling of the sci-fi, historical and societal dimensions were breathtakingly thought-provoking.
The characters in this movie?...I KNOW these people!
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brother makes some good points
Added 4/7/2009
Brother makes some good points about society and is saved by some good acting despite being cheaply made. But this kind of endears the movie, seems like maybe it should be cheap made.
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great movie, great DVD
Added 2/16/2009
This DVD, released in 2003, is not the one complained about in other reviews. It is made from a copy that was lovingly restored by the UCLA film school archive, and the sound and picture are clear throughout. You can even freeze-frame and zoom in to see some little background surprises that the director points out in his commentary. The commentary, by director John Sayles, is low-key, enlightening, and actually focused on the film, cast, and plot. Joe Morton is actually the star of this film, though he is not even mentioned in the above cast list.
I have loved this movie since I first saw it back in high school. It is a "sci-fi" film in that it deals with aliens and there is action and tension, but that is the least of what this film is. It is funny, exciting, and leaves me feeling better about humanity in a way that is not sticky-sweet. It reveals aspects of African-American culture that are rarely seen in any movie, old or new - the supportive sense of community that can give someone who is lost a soft place to land. Kindness offered out of the empathy of shared hardship and disenfranchisement. Three-Toe is from another planet, an alien, but when he wanders into Harlem, he is simply and immediately "brother", and the first thing he is asked is "can I help you, brother?" Every character we meet through his alien eyes is a delight. People in this film are good to each other in ordinary and believable ways, and it surprised me to realize how little of that I see in current movies, and how nice it felt to watch.
If you like a quirky story, great characters, and a quiet, no-special-effects approach to movie-making, I highly recommend this movie. It is a classic.
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Now Here Is Something Different!
Added 1/29/2009
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 usually bad, especially if John Sayles writes and/or directs. 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, and no voice. 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 "brother" hangs out brought the biggest laughs.
I find this a lot of fun to watch every three or four years. I'm glad it's finally out with the correct aspect ratio and much better transfer.
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