The Essential John Sayles

The Age

Thursday March 15, 2007

Philippa Hawker

Hopscotch, 324 mins, M, box set, 1980-84

3.5/5

You get three films for more or less the price of one in this box set, movies from the back-catalogue of indie pioneer Sayles. The first, Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980), explores a theme that was taken up by the much more high-profile and bigger budget The Big Chill - the reunion of a group of friends from the '60s who get together over the course of a weekend and assess the changes and compromises in their lives. Lianna (1983) explores the story of an unhappily married university wife who has an affair with another woman but the best of the three is The Brother From Another Planet, an entertaining cult comedy in which a mute, black alien (played by Joe Morton) lands in the US, ends up in Harlem, and uses his extra-terrestrial powers to make some changes in the lives of those around him. As an outsider in a strange land, this alien also offers a political take on the racist face of '60s America.

DVD extras include: director's commentary.