Review of Brother to Brother (2004) by Jason Y — 09 Aug 2005

[b]DVD[/b] First Viewing, 1 Evans film seen.

[i]Brother to Brother[/i] gives an insightful look at the experience of black homosexuals. A young struggling artist begins a seemingly odd friendship with an older man. It's a story much like [i]Finding Forrester [/i]with the obvious modifications. How do you think Rob Brown would have reacted if Sean Connery randomly asked Rob to pose for him?

As an independent film, [i]Brother to Brother[/i] was highly successful. It won numerous awards at Gay film festivals in LA, New York, Miami, San Fransisco, etc. But it also was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, including best debut performance for Anthony Mackie, best first screenplay, best supporting male for Roger Robinson, and best first feature.

I liked how the film would suddenly take on a surrealistic tone, each time it changed from color to black & white. I thought the technique worked quite well. It's an interesting story, even for a straight white kid like me. I think most people would agree.