The plot unfolds something like this: An alien crash lands his spaceship off Ellis Island and must quickly become acclimated to New York City's Harlem neighborhood. For all intents and purposes he looks and acts like a human, except that he has three toes on each foot and the ability to fix any machine without tools. He quickly finds housing and a job, but alien bounty hunters are hot on his trail. Posing as immigration agents, they appear on the scene pestering the locals for info on their "illegal alien". It appears that the Brother's new world is about to come crashing in on him...
Underlying commentary on immigration: There are many layers of commentary in this film, but my favorite is the not-so-subtle commentary on US immigration enforcement. Through the whole film people from all walks of life refuse to cooperate with the (imitation) immigration officers, they run interference, quip that there are better uses of the officer's time, and offer their own unique perspectives on why immigration enforcement is needless. At the time this film was made, commentary like this was specific to New York (and a few other cities), as NYC dealt with a higher volume of immigration than the rest of the country. But that commentary is very topical today, and it's also eerie when you consider this film was made 20 years before ICE was created.
Written and directed by: Independent film pioneer, John Sayles.
Staring: An impossibly young Joe Morton.
Cinematography by: Ernest R. Dickerson with his earliest film credit and, according to the director, it's also the first film Dickerson ever shot using a 35mm camera!
So many "that guy/lady" moments: Steve James, Bill Cobbs, Tom Wright, Giancarlo Esposito, David Strathiirn, a ridiculously young Fisher Stevens, Rosetta LeNoire, just to name a few.
Good, but weird: If you love b-movies that are loaded with social commentary and are bursting with heart; this is a movie you should have watched already. But this movie is also very weird, at times clunky, and very cheesy in it's attempts at comedy. Those flaws mostly add to the charm of this film, but when things don't land gracefully, they fall face first into uncomfortably awkward. Even so, we liked this one quite a bit!
