What a waste of my time!!!

Let's be realistic.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

A fantastic movie. Superb. Excellent. A keeper. I am definitely going to rent and re-view Brother from Another Planet. Ensemble type of movie. Low-key score. Dead on performances--everybody tight and sticking to the story, no histrionics or dopey movie-star closeups. If there's a continuum of corruption movies with On the Waterfront on one extreme (intrusive score, ridiculous script, pandering to gorgeous movie stars) and Hands Over the City on the other (realistic portrayal of life with Rod Steiger and lots of extras), then this movie was closer to Hands Over the City. It's not neo-realism, but the way in which everyone's history haunts and thwarts them was excellent. And of course, the last scene is something to rewind and watch over and over again.

This has become one of my favorite movies, and I am happy to see it return to cable showings. Because of the large ensemble cast, I think that it benefits from more than one viewing. I am struck by the contrast among the characters trying to their best despite hardships (Wynn, Angela, Jeanette, who is Desmond's mother, Les, who has been mugged, and Nidia, on council with Wynn), characters who mean well but ultimately fail (Joe is the classic), and characters corrupted beyond redemption (Carl-- and I love it that Sayles gave himself the nastiest character, assistant D.A. Zimmer, Mayor Baci, and O'Brien-- Kevin Tighe must be Sayles' favorite sleaze-ball). And where will Nick end up if he survives? It is interesting to see actors again in Sayles' films (Chris Cooper-- always good, Joe Morton, Angela Bassett, Tom Wright-- the ultra-activist-- did anyone else recognize him as Flash Phillips from "Sunshine State?", and David Straithairn-- what a role for him!) Errol, the retired mayor who advises Wynn on the golf course, has some very interesting things to say that bear attention. Just how does one lead? And how does one become a leader without compromising himself? Where is that line drawn? Music is used effectively as well. I like whatever it is that is playing on Vinnie's boom box at the end when Nick comes to Carl's shop to confront him (I can't read the titles on the red credits at the end, and they don't appear on the IMDb). And I love the Neville Brothers' "Fearless" at the end. Perfect.Watch this movie.

In "City of Hope," John Sayles appears on screen as one of his urban cliche characters, but off screen he's Jerry Lewis, wheeling out his crippled city and his crippled movie and trying to manipulate the viewer into phoning in a pledge or something.Unfortunately for him and his poster-child city, the kid is thoroughly unlovable. Sayles' fictitious Hudson City tries to be a composite of real-life New Jersey industrial towns, but it ends up being just a laundry list of big-city problems--poverty, racism, bad government-- slapped up on the big screen with Sayles saying nothing more than Isn't This Awful? and Don't You Want to Do Something About It? This might work if we were given more reason to care, but the characters never get a chance to become more than cartoon characters in a one dimensional place.I live in a big city, but if someone tried to get me to see "City of Hope" again, I'd split for the suburbs.

first, can someone tell me what genre this movie was? was sayles joking? or were we supposed to care about these heavy-handed caricatures? yes, there are moments of good and intentional black comedy, and that ending shot was classic. but the core drama and pathos driving this movie are more worthy of undergrad filmmakers and daytime soaps. weak and puerile.how did such a cool filmmaker waste his time on this?