The visionary writer-director behind such films as Passion Fish, Lone Star and Sunshine State, OscarÂ(r) nominee* John Sayles has been at the forefront of independent cinema for more than twenty years. In this “vastly amusing, offbeat fantasy” (Variety), Sayles takes “a fresh look at our society” (Los Angeles Times) through the eyes of a black extraterrestrial (Joe Morton) who crash-lands on Earthin Harlemand is taken in by the regulars of a local bar. The alien changes everyone he meets on his “original and eye-opening” (The Hollywood Reporter) journey through the streets of urban America. But can his message of brotherly love resonate with the intergalactic bounty hunters trying to track him down? *1996: Original Screenplay, Lone Star; 1992: Original Screenplay, Passion FishHaving been stymied in the midst of trying to make Matewan, John Sayles wrote what he thought could be a cheap, quick little movie and it turned out to be this near classic, which blends fish-out-of-water comedy with trenchant and serious science fiction. Joe Morton plays an extraterrestrial whose spaceship crashes in New York Harbor. When he swims ashore, he finds that most of Harlem is filled with earthlings who look just like him. He can’t speak, but he quickly learns to communicate; he also finds ways to understand these strange, quarrelsome creatures, who seem to talk forever without really saying much. Sayles is at his economic best, drawing a touchingly complex performance from the silent Morton and good acting from a strong supporting cast of mostly unknowns. –Marshall Fine

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