The Brother from Another Planet

Filmmaker John Sayles' first bonafide box-office success, Brother from Another Planet centers on a black escaped slave from a faraway planet (Joe Morton) who finds himself on the mean streets Harlem. Though the locals are put off by the slave's inability to speak, they are won over by his technical ...more

In John Sayles' return to independent filmmaking after his unhappy experience with Baby It's You, The Brother From Another Planet takes a wonderful premise and then works it for all it's worth almost to the end. After decades of extraterrestrials who unfailingly resembled earthlings of European descent, Sayles offers a visitor of a different hue, which is a clever comment in itself. The writer/director then proceeds to examine the assumptions created by those his protagonist encounters, both ...more