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Movie Description
Bursting at the seams with clever cinematic ideas, Rodney Evans's BROTHER TO BROTHER captures the essence of contemporary black gay life in America by drawing parallels with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Perry (Anthony Mackie) is a young gay student at Columbia University who moonlights as a worker in a homeless shelter. Feeling something is missing from his life, but unable to form the essential questions which will lead to the answers he so desperately craves, Perry unloads his existential angst onto the shoulders of his straight best friend Marcus (Larry Gilliard Jr.). Perry finds inspiration in the pages of a book on the Harlem Renaissance, and takes a journey back in time to meet some of the characters who dominated the neighborhood in the 1920s. First up is an encounter with the elderly painter and writer Richard Bruce Nugent (portrayed here with extreme pathos by Roger Robinson), who offers Perry a nostalgic foray into the history of black, gay culture. Bruce's stories are reenacted in black-and-white, and introduce Perry to esteemed figures such as Langston Hughes (Daniel Sunjata); Wallace Thurman (Ray Ford); Zora Neale Hurston (Aunjanue Ellis); and a younger incarnation of Nugent (played by Duane Boutte). Their words simultaneously capture the essence of the gay American experience, and provide a neat summary of a time littered with great social and political upheaval in Harlem and beyond. Pulling some refined performances from his actors while juggling a little budget and big ideas, Rodney Evans's film is a glowing tribute to a bygone era, and a contemporary meditation on the black gay experience.
Industry Reviews
"Filled with ideas and some nice acting....Mr. Evans has crammed a great deal of thought and a lot of obvious feeling into his first dramatic feature."
New York Times - Manohla Dargis (11/05/2004)
"Rodney Evans makes a ballsy leap into historical fantasia, with heartfelt fervor....[The film] reverberates with increasing power."
Entertainment Weekly - Lisa Schwarzbaum (11/12/2004)
"[H]eartfelt and imaginative....It's the rich presence and easy authority of Robinson that brings both a gravitas and a blithe spirit to BROTHER TO BROTHER."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (12/03/2004)
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