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From: citrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: The Brother From Another Planet (non-sp)
Message-ID: <2471@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 11-Oct-84 03:34:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.2471
Posted: Thu Oct 11 03:34:17 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Oct-84 07:58:02 EDT
Reply-To: citrin@ucbvax.UUCP (Wayne )
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 38
Summary: 

Before reviewing The Bro, I just want to say that I saw Buckaroo Banzai
last week and enjoyed it.  I found a great deal of wit and freshness,
plus a fine performance by John Lithgow.  It certainly looked like everyone
concerned had a good time.  This was an Indiana Jones film not loaded with
pretention; that showed that you can make an adventure film without ranging
any further afield than New Jersey.  The ending promised a sequel, but
I hope that that was just part of the comic book atmosphere that they were
trying to invoke; a sequel would be a letdown and I don't think the concept
could carry one without the jokes getting tired.  Unfortunately the economics
of movies dictates a sequel.  Rating:  *** (of ****).

Now to "The Brother From Another Planet."  Unlike Buckaroo Banzai, which
was ultimately forgettable (as lightweight fluff usually is), "The Brother..."
gets better each time I think about it.  The Brother is a black 
extraterrestrial trying to escape slavery on his world and pursued by
two white extraterrestrial bounty hunters.  He makes his way to Harlem 
and the story takes off from there.  The Bro is mute, although he understands
all languages, and naturally becomes the sounding board for everyone's
life story.  It seems to me that this is what science fiction should be
when it is at its best: a way of learning about ourselves from outside.
The human interest is there, and there is a comic subplot concerning
the bounty hunters, one of whom is played by director John Sayles.
They are the ultimate honkeys in a Harlem bar and the original title
of the film, "Assholes From Outer Space," gives you an idea of their
characters.  Joe Morton, as the Brother, gives an excellent performance
without a single line. The other performances are uniformly good, there is
a satisfying twist at the end (the full implications of which had to be
explained to me later in a newspaper review), and the production gives the
viewer no idea that the film cost only $350,000 to make.  I never got around
to seeing Sayles' other films, including "Return of the Secaucus Seven,"
"Lianna," and "Baby It''s You," but I plan to seek them out now when they
come back to the Berkeley art houses.  I give this film ***1/2*.

Now, a request:  Has anyone seen "Last Night at the Alamo" or "Le Crabe
Tambour" and is willing to post a review?

Wayne Citrin
(ucbvax!citrin)