My Brother's Wedding

1983

1h 56m

Drama

List

89%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

60%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

A man (Everett Silas) must choose between attending his brother's wedding or the funeral of his best friend.

Read More

Read Less

Richard Brody

New Yorker

Burnett fills the film with voices and memories, humor and rage; his vision of neighborhood life has an ample, passionate generosity.

Feb 1, 2021

Full Review

Adam Nayman

The Ringer

My Brother's Wedding is, above all, representative of a strain of American independent cinema conceived and produced in opposition to (and largely in spite of) the surrounding pop-culture climate.

Apr 15, 2019

Full Review

Mark Holcomb

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Ying Ying Wu

San Francisco Examiner

Burnett's second feature, My Brother's Wedding, is an amusing, highly personal insider's view of conflicting values in black America.

Jan 10, 2023

Full Review

Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

'80s film about family strife has mature themes.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 21, 2020

Full Review

Nathanael Hood

Unseen Films

Reaffirms Burnett as one of black cinema's greatest poets.

Rated: 8/10

Jun 11, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

thomas w

The dialog is stilted, the acting is amateurish, the characters are not particularly likable, the story is uninspired, and the camera work is nothing special. Other than that, it's terrific.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This has been one of the worst movies I have seen. The acting was horrible, and the storyline was not well thought out. I recommond that all aspiring filmmakers see this movie and use it as a guide of what not to do. So many scenes didn't make any sense and should have been left on the editing floor. The cinematographer should have white balanced the camera before he shot this. I know this was in the 80's but the scene where these two black men were just running and skipping for no reason made me cringe. I don't know how it made it to HBO Max but here it is. Don't waist your time.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Of course, as a messy and unrefined exploration of the material social bonds that transcend the ideological family unit, it could just as aptly be titled MY BROTHER'S FUNERAL.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

lilah h

Flaws aside the story is gripping and shot so well, a must see for any cinephile.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

walter m

In "My Brother's Wedding," Pierce(Everett Silas), when he is not working for his parents'(Jessie Holms and Dennis Kemper) dry cleaning business, takes the time to look in on his grandparents. In the meantime, he is getting reading for his brother Wendell's(Monte Easter) wedding. And then Pierce's friend Solider(Ronnie Bell) gets released from prison. "My Brother's Wedding" depicts a working class African American milieu that is still rarely seen in movies today. Ironically enough, in this world, there is upward mobility and downward mobility(Soldier has a certain outlaw charm and charisma about him) but moving sideways or not at all like Pierce seems expert at is definitely frowned upon. But as insightful as that is, the movie suffers from a fractured narrative that can be frustrating at times.(This review and rating refer to the 2007 director's cut.) Even the ending that desperately tries to bring everything together, can also feel more than a little forced.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The acting is lousy, which really hurts a potentially fine film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Charles Burnett

Director

Everett Silas

Pierce Monday

Jessie Holmes

Mrs. Monday

Gaye Shannon-Burnett

Sonia

Ronnie Bell

Soldier Richards

Dennis Kemper

Wendell Monday

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

82%

81%

Tender Mercies

94%

93%

Paris, Texas

78%

73%

Deadline U.S.A.

74%

71%

Under the Volcano

70%

79%

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A man (Everett Silas) must choose between attending his brother's wedding or the funeral of his best friend.

Director: Charles Burnett
Screenwriter: Charles Burnett
Production Co: Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Charles Burnett Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.2K
Runtime: 1h 56m