A humanoid slave from another planet (Joe Morton) escapes to the mean streets of Harlem. The people of the neighborhood are slowly won over by the slave's technical wizardry, and they adopt him as a "brother." His new friends then protect him from the two alien bounty hunters on his tail. A heartfelt look at race and belonging from writer/director John Sayles.
Kinda depressing to learn that advanced life forms are still doing that slave thing. Equally disturbing was the lack of alien subtitles (ha,ha). On the flip side, Brother, although slow moving by today's standards, captivates its audience. We want to know what happens to these characters in the movie. This is a B-movie classic.
I did not hate this movie-- there were a lot of interesting metaphors and what not, and the acting was great-- but it was a bit tedious and depressing. I don't mind the depressing so much because it was a viable part of the message... but I could have done without the tediousness.
***/*****
3/5 Stars
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