| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
First-time writer-director Rodney Evans makes a ballsy leap into historical fantasia, with heartfelt fervor outrunning stray moments of artistic gawkiness.
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| 75 |
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
A very good drama about the difficulties of being young, black, and gay. With a bigger budget and a sharper focus, it might have been a great one.
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| 75 |
New York Post
Megan Lehmann
An intelligent and entertaining exploration of racial and sexual politics that brings alive the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, and draws parallels with African-American identity crises of today.
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| 70 |
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Funny, sexy and very cleverly done.
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| 70 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
Fascinating and absorbing tale.
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| 70 |
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
With its black-and-white flashbacks and relentlessly earnest tone, this sometimes threatens to become a PBS documentary, yet its script is exceptionally fluid, tracing the tributaries of art, race, and sexuality that feed one's sense of self.
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| 70 |
LA Weekly
Chuck Wilson
In movies, the young are forever being taken back in time by the old, but what sets apart this low-energy yet ambitious debut feature by writer-director Rodney Evans is the complexity of the questions that journey raises.
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| 70 |
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
The film is studded with nifty supporting portrayals, with Burns and Ford (in his film debut) especially notable. But it's the rich presence and easy authority of Robinson that brings both a gravitas and a blithe spirit to Brother to Brother.
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| 63 |
New York Daily News
Robert Dominguez
Evan succeeds in drawing a parallel about the lack of racial and sexual tolerance in both eras, but Perry's inner turmoil is nowhere near as interesting as the lively flashbacks.
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| 60 |
Variety
David Rooney
The film's transitions between periods are not entirely seamless and its discourse often becomes didactic. However, the depth and intelligence it brings to issues of black politics and sexuality could help carve an appreciative theatrical audience in upscale gay and/or urban niches.
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| 50 |
Village Voice
Jorge Morales
First-timer Rodney Evans's leaden script fails to live up to the poetry of its subjects and raises more themes--black-on-black homophobia, light-skin versus dark-skin prejudice, writers' envy--than it can fully develop.
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| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Interesting for its historical content.
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| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Fascinating context but awkwardly told.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Ellen Fox
Ambitious but clumsy, it's a movie to appreciate rather than to be engaged by.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
Filled with ideas and some nice acting, particularly from Mr. Mackie and Mr. Robinson, both of whom hold the screen easily, Mr. Evans has crammed a great deal of thought and a lot of obvious feeling into his first dramatic feature.
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| 50 |
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
This first dramatic feature by documentarian Evans is an important film but not necessarily a successful one.
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| 50 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Works far better as an idea than its execution; this has to do with the difficulties of making profound statements with limited budgets and technology, and also grappling with the still-growing sensibilities of an emerging writer.
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| 40 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Well-intentioned to a fault, the film packs a strange, ultimately unsuccessful combination of prurience and clumsy identity politics.
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