...this one, something of a B-ish sci-fi dramadey, provides laughs as it provokes.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 7, 2020

[A] charmingly low-tech sci-fi indie.

| Feb 18, 2020

Sayles is no storyteller; despite the verve of its language, "The Brother From Another Planet" eventually sags of its own weight.

| Jan 4, 2018

...nearly topples over from the weight of its social commentary.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 19, 2017

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 6, 2008

Quirky urban spaceman comedy, that's only moderately funny and observant.

| Original Score: B- | Dec 31, 2007

The two different ends require shifts in point of view that are beyond Sayles's talent as a visual storyteller, and the film does not cohere.

| Jun 4, 2007

Buoyed by Morton's sensitive performance, the film proceeds as a series of vignettes, some of them unforgettable.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 4, 2007

A vastly amusing but progressively erratic look at the Harlem adventures of an alien, a black E.T.

| Jun 4, 2007

Central to the film's deft balancing act between shaggy dog humour and something just a little more serious is Morton's expressive performance as the alien, though the rest of the cast also plays admirably.

| Jun 24, 2006

A talk-heavy script about racial prejudice and other ills through the eyes of a mute black alien, terrifically played by John Sayles' regular Joe Morton.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 7, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2005

It may not be the perfect John Sayles film, the perfect science fiction movie or the perfect film about black life --- but it manages to seamlessly mix wit, slapstick, poignancy and politics.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

The movie finds countless opportunities for humorous scenes, most of them with a quiet little bite, a way of causing us to look at our society.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 23, 2004

The principle character is an embellished creation, and serves to exaggerate peoples' intolerance - fundamentally, he is the most removed of Sayles' characters.

| Aug 31, 2004

It's a nice, unsurprising shaggy-dog story that goes on far too long.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 30, 2004

Often fascinating, but somehow never truly involving.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 11, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 14, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2003

Writer-director John Sayles' low-budget, high-concept fable is smart, sensitive sci-fi.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 19, 2003