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The Planet of Junior Brown

R Released Sep 6, 1997 1h 31m Drama List
Reviews 67% Audience Score 250+ Ratings
Obese teen misfit Junior Brown (Martin Villafana) is a whiz on the piano but is blocked from following his musical aspirations by his controlling mother, Mrs. Brown (Lynn Whitfield), and his selfish piano teacher, Miss Peebs (Margot Kidder), who is stifling his development. Luckily, Junior manages to get support from his friends and fellow outcasts, including troubled kid Buddy (Rainbow Sun Francks), oddball custodian Mr. Pool (Clark Johnson) and intriguing teen girl Butter (Sarah Polley). Read More Read Less
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Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 24, 2005 Full Review Michael Szymanski Zap2it.com Rated: 2/5 Oct 3, 2003 Full Review Dave Robinson Apollo Guide Rated: 63/100 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (7) audience reviews
Audience Member This film is what it is, a selection from the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival. And like most films in a film festival they are not your popular everyday movies like Ironman 2, Spiderman, or some rag bag comedy. No most films from a film festival never get TV air time, or make a billboard on 42nd Street and Times Square. But that doesn't mean there not worth seeing. Not everyone understands these movies and that where my friends here on flixster come in, we are different and we understand different. Junior Brown is a Oversized young in mind piano player and we travel thru parts of his life, which are basically cruel at most times, but Junior is a champ and makes the best of things and what life has to offer him. Worth the watch and 3 1/2 stars Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member OMG no ones commented??? Ok I guess its up to me.... Well i saw this movie like 2 or 3 years ago so my memory is foggy but what I do remember is the emotions that this movie inspired. This laden with symbolism, metaphors, and has a heavy message thats left up to the viewer to interpret. I want this movie on dvd and I want to read the book off of which it is based. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Though the new pic has an original, beautiful look and some dynamite performances, the muddled story is only occasionally captivating. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Decent adaptation of the great book. Some movies, like 'Holes' for example, Hollywoodize the main character if not all of them, but this one can't do that because the story is about a wide group of people and all of them have problems. Whether they are homeless or psychologically-strained, each has challenges to overcome and legitimate problems. Like the book, I think the film conveys the centrality of Buddy as the character that would be expected to be the most damaged, but actually keeps people from falling apart. Very sweet, sympathetic film. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a strange but believable encounter between 2 young men, who care for each other but come from opposite worlds Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member ever wonder how those so called others you dont mingle with deal with life and dream... watch this and youll be more considerate of those others. loved the movie and has a strange plot to it Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Planet of Junior Brown

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Obese teen misfit Junior Brown (Martin Villafana) is a whiz on the piano but is blocked from following his musical aspirations by his controlling mother, Mrs. Brown (Lynn Whitfield), and his selfish piano teacher, Miss Peebs (Margot Kidder), who is stifling his development. Luckily, Junior manages to get support from his friends and fellow outcasts, including troubled kid Buddy (Rainbow Sun Francks), oddball custodian Mr. Pool (Clark Johnson) and intriguing teen girl Butter (Sarah Polley).
Director
Clement Virgo
Producer
Eric Jordan, Paul Stephens
Screenwriter
Cameron Bailey, Virginia Hamilton, Clement Virgo
Distributor
A-Pix Entertainment
Production Co
Film Works
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 6, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2019
Runtime
1h 31m
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