My Brother
An aspiring stand-up comic realizes precisely how precious the developmentally disabled brother he so frequently took for granted truly is in writer/director Anthony Lover's sensitive family drama. Poetically told by his terminally ill mother L'Tisha Morton (Vanessa Williams) that he and his developmentally disabled brother James (Christopher Scott) share a single soul despite having separate bodies, resentful thirty year-old Isaiah (Nashawn Kearse) longs to explore his stifled independence by testing his meddle on the comedy club circuit. When his dreams go up in smoke, Isaiah falls back on a courier job - initially assigned the task of delivering a mysterious package for an intimidating gang of Middle Eastern thugs. Later, when the package goes missing, the goons who hired Isaiah arrive at his apartment to rough up the frightened courier and his unsuspecting sibling. It's only then, when faced with the prospect of their own mortality, that Isaiah truly begins to comprehend the true depth of his brotherly bond with James. more..
Director: Anthony Lover
Starring: Vanessa Williams, Nashawn Kearse, Christopher Scott, Fredro Starr, Tatum O'Neal
The first half of Lover's film is surprisingly affecting...But the film comes apart in its second half, when James' flight triggers a long series of flashbacks to the brothers' childhood.
The movie's strongest element is the chemistry between the reflective Mr. Kearse and Mr. Scott (who really has Down syndrome). Improving on its obvious antecedent in "Dominick and Eugene," their relationship feels real, not like a movie contrivance.
My Brother is brimming with would-be life lessons. But the movie goes in so many directions, and follows through on so few of them, that all it transmits is a vague glow. It's watered-down chicken soup for the soul.
A heavy-handed redemption story.
What it possesses in heart and goodwill, it sorely lacks in narrative skill and artistic depth.
Grand Jury Prize
American Black Film Festival (2006)
Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film
Image Awards (2008)
Youth Actor Spirit Awards
International Family Film Festival (2007)
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