Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


My Brother's Wedding (1983)

Director: Charles Burnett

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out New York

A long-inaccessible bridge between Killer of Sheep (1977) and To Sleep with Anger (1990), this recently reedited companion piece shows Charles Burnett honing his narrative edge for the latter while remaining true to the muted grandeur of the former. Plainly transitional and awkward by comparison, it’s still never less than engrossing.

Using a nonprofessional cast à la Sheep, Burnett follows Watts man-boy Pierce Mundy (Silas) as he loafs around in the dry-cleaning store owned by his mother (the scene-stealing Holmes) and makes rounds as a reluctant caretaker to various friends and family members. The pending nuptials of his more outwardly successful sib (Easter) and the parole of a troublemaking pal (Bell) converge to underscore how this untenable routine both gives Pierce’s life meaning and drains it of independence.

If Burnett doesn’t always have a sure grip on Wedding’s theatrical, pointedly amateurish milieu (the titular thread is particularly flat-footed), the story gains uncommon power by what goes unsaid and unresolved. And, as ever, it’s a joy to look at and listen to: Burnett’s movies are quite unlike anyone else’s, and the only real drawback emphasized here is that he doesn’t make more of them.

Author: Mark Holcomb

Time Out New York Issue 624: September 13–19, 2007


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

10 alternative romantic movies

10 alternative romantic movies

Romance blossoms in the most unlikely of places...

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects