While the character played by Donald Sutherland is basically a nice guy, he is quickly revealed to be rather pompous, speaking to everyone as if he had to prove to them that he was much more intelligent and well bred than they are. It's not necessarily anything that he says (although he speaks like a college professor), but the way he says it, not with a sneer but with a knowing smirk that after a while gets tiresome. He's married to the happy Teri Garr and has two children, one son who he tries to get close to but pushes away unknowingly through his demanding ways. Garr is initially understanding to both, but after a while, she begins to see everything through her son's perspective, and has had enough.
The main plot of the story concerns Sutherland's determination to buy back the family grocery store which he inherited from his father but had to sell to E. G. Marshall because of poor business decisions. Now that Marshall is aging, Sutherland wants it back, but has he really learned anything? He shows his kindness to the community by allowing all kinds of credit or bartering, but can't find charity within his own heart to show to his family. Tuesday Weld is a flashy friend of his wife's who seems to be making a play for him, but the question remains, "Why?" Based on a John Stenbeck book and utilizing the Shakespeare quote from "Richard III" in its dialog, it is one of those films that means well but wasn't successfully done the way it was directed or in Sutherland's case, acted. He could have taken a much more subtle approach in this character's uppity and manipulative manner, but ultimately, he comes off as a boorish blowhard.