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66% Critic Match
A Family Thing
“With family, everything is relative.”
6.6 / 10• 1996• 1h 49m•PG-13• English
ComedyDrama
Storyline
Earl Pilcher Jr. runs an equipment rental outfit in Arkansas, lives with his wife and kids and parents, and rarely takes off his gimme cap. His mother dies, leaving a letter explaining he's not her natural son, but the son of a Black woman who died in childbirth; plus, he has a half brother Ray, in Chicago, she wants him to visit. Earl makes the trip, initially receiving a cold welcome from Ray and Ray's son, Virgil. His birth mother's sister, Aunt T., an aged and blind matriarch, takes Earl in tow and insists that the family open up to him.
Cast & Crew
Robert Duvall
Earl Pilcher Jr.
Lead
James Earl Jones
Ray Murdock
Michael Beach
Virgil
Irma P. Hall
Aunt T.
Grace Zabriskie
Ruby
Regina Taylor
Ann
David Keith
Sonny
Xander Berkeley
Sunburned Man
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Richard Pearce's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. A Family Thing is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
