Cinema: Blues for Black Actors

America's largest minority seeks roles and role models

Consider two of this month's releases. One is a science-fiction comedy with more than its share of gags, chills and good feelings. The other is an electrifying whodunit from a veteran director whose films have received 31 Oscar nominations. In a simpler world these two movies—John Sayles' The Brother from Another Planet and Norman Jewison's A Soldier's Story—would pass through the theaters with the usual benediction or indifference from critics and the public. But because the films have casts composed almost entirely of blacks, because...