SnoopyStyle An alien (Joe Morton) lands in NYC. At first, he's outwardly a black man missing a leg. He's mute, has the ability to heal, fix machines, takes out his eye, reads minds and super athletic. He grows a leg. He befriends a group at a local bar in a black neighborhood. He is being pursued by two mysterious Man in Black (David Strathairn, John Sayles).It's a really interesting concept to do a low budget indie of a friendly alien finding his way in a minority neighborhood of a modern city. It starts well but it meanders and rambles. I want it to do something and it would be great to have the brother learn to speak. There are some nice scenes early on like the Korean grocery store but the movie fades. Instead of accelerating into the climax, it devolves into silliness.

BA_Harrison A mute, three-toed, super-sensory humanoid (a fine performance from Joe Morton) arrives on Earth, appropriately landing near Ellis Island and taking up residence in Harlem, where his African American appearance helps him to blend in with the locals. The inquisitive alien sets about exploring his strange new environment, absorbing the unique sights and sounds of '80s New York with the help of his otherworldly sense of touch and his removable eyeball, but his journey of discovery is interrupted when he finds himself being hunted by two mysterious men in black...Although writer/director/star John Sayles' strongly suggests that Morton's character is an escaped slave and makes references to class divide, racism and America's history of slavery, he ensures that The Brother From Another Planet doesn't ram a moralistic or political message down the viewer's throat, focusing instead on examining the human condition though the use of interesting characters, quirky dialogue and intriguing situations. The film is all the better for it—a somewhat bizarre but fun sci-fi adventure on the surface, but one that can be dissected, examined and discussed on a deeper level if so desired.

Jackson Booth-Millard It was someone else who wanted to watch it more than I did, having seen Alan Davies mention it on Q.I., but the description I read certainly sounded interesting, so I watched as well. Basically The Brother (Terminator 2: Judgement Day's Joe Morton) is an alien from outer space who lands in the upper harbour of New York City, he is an escaped slave who looks just like any normal black man, in rags like a tramp. Also, he is unable to talk, so ending up in Harlem (which feels like the lower side) he makes some friends in a bar owner and some of the regulars. But they also discover his secret power, from his hands he creates a ray of light, and this enables him to fix anything put in front of him, such as wounds, televisions, arcade machines, and fruit machines. So while the mute hero makes money doing this "mending" job and empathises people with his inability to talk, he is unaware that two bounty hunters from his home planet have come to Earth to take him back. There is also some story where he takes his eye out to show drug dealers in action and have someone do something about it, and by the end he has I guess accepted his new environment. Also starring Daryl Edwards as Fly, Steve James as Odell, Leonard Jackson as Smokey, Bill Cobbs as Walter, Maggie Renzi as Noreen, Tom Wright as Sam, Renn Woods as Bernice and Reggie Rock Bythewood as Rickey. Morton makes his character that never utters one word likable, he makes everyone around him feel good, the healing power moments are like something out of E.T., and this is supposedly meant to show realistic situations put in front of this alien, if it had some more spice added it would be a good watch, but it's a pretty average science-fiction satire. Okay!

preppy-3 An alien from outer space (Joe Morton) crash lands in NY. He looks like a black man, is totally mute and can fix machines and heal wounds with his bare hands. He's taken in by the citizens of Harlem who grow to like him...but he's being followed by two men in black (John Sayles and David Stratham) who want to bring him back to outer space.An interesting change of pace for director/writer and editor John Sayles...but it doesn't really work. I caught this in 1984 at an art cinema and was pretty unimpressed. My thoughts haven't really changed much. There's no real plot...just Morton wandering around and meeting all these odd but always friendly people. The dialogue is great and Morton is excellent (that's why I'm giving it a 6) but the rest of the acting is pretty bad (except for Sayles and Stratham) and nothing really happens. It just sort of lays there. It also leads to a real ambiguous ending which could be interpreted a number of different ways. Still, this was the kind of independent film that came out in the 1980s and 90s before Hollywood took them over. For that alone this is interesting to watch. It has been beautifully restored by the Anarchists Covention (???) and UCLA. It looks better now than it did in 1984!