A Family Thing (1996)

That was an excellent one.

Just perfect...

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Robert Duvall plays an aging Southerner who discovers he has a half-brother -- and worse, their mother was black! He journeys to Chicago to meet his half-brother (James Earl Jones), who is as shaken as he to discover their connection. The blind Aunt T. (Irma Hall), who lives with Jones, helps the two men sort out their differences. A familiar TV face, Michael Beach, plays Jones' grown son, who is dealing with personal problems and not exactly overjoyed to have a white man -- worse, a bona fide cracker -- in the family. Duvall walks away with this one. He is amazing. At one point, after having been carjacked and beaten and wandering off from Jones in anger and hurt feelings, he finds himself in a bar where he drunkenly invites himself to join a table of folks celebrating one of the ladies' birthdays. They're black, and his redneck, incorrect way of talking to them becomes painful to hear. He is that convincing. The last shot of the movie, which is absolutely precious, has Aunt T. walking away from the camera, headed for the market. Veteran movie and TV director Richard Pearce made this from a script cowritten by Billy Bob Thornton. A must-see.

Robert Duvall's father dies and he finds out that he has a long-lost brother - a black man (played by James Earl Jones). He treks to the big city in order to find his brother (against his wishes, as he's a prejudiced Southener) and soon finds himself stuck under the company of Jones and his rambunctious family.This story isn't always as realistic as reality but it draws good allusions and parallels - I watched it very late one night expecting to fall asleep and, much to my surprise, I was completely entertained (and even touched) by the film's sweetness. It's an incredibly easy viewing - it touches on some deep racial issues but is never disturbing. It is a good family film with some strong morals and a rewarding finale that is a bit too simplistic, perhaps, but nevertheless uplifting and a nice reminder of many values many of us forget.A worthwhile, extremely underrated experience - highly recommended.4.5/5

A Family Thing is a drama about a Southen man (Duvall) who's mother reveals on her deathbed that he was not her child. Rather he was the result of a forced encounter between his father and the black help. In order to keep a promise Duvall sets off to find his half-brother (Earl-Jones).Although the story seems to be about race - it's main theme is one of forgiveness and acceptance of others, with race being one of the barriers to break down.All the characters have their own barriers to overcome - Duvall has to confront the fact that he is not white, Earl-Jones has to deal with his hatred of past events and Michael Beach has to come to terms with missing out on pro-football and the breakup of his marriage. Only the sagely aunt T. (Irma P. Hall) has the ability to accept everyone for whom they are - partly due to being blind "and not being able to judge folks on what they look like".It's not an earth shattering piece of story telling and at times doesn't seem to have a consistent flow to it but it held my attention throughout and was actually quite rewarding.It's all a bit tidy (in real life, nothing gets sorted this easy), but it definately makes you think.

Everything about this movie touched my heart. Robert Duvall has to be the best actor who's ever tread the face of this earth. The way he 'sinks into' his character in this particular film is almost uncanny. The completely fresh and unexpected perspective from which the story is written took my breath away. I confess when I first saw this film I had no idea who Billy Bob Thorton(one of the co-writers) was - I just knew that this was one of the best movies I'd ever seen. Never at any time during this film do you get that feeling of 'I've seen this somewhere before' - and in this day and age that's almost unheard of. How come you haven't seen it yet?? Believe me it's worth the hunt.