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A Family Thing

  • 19961996
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
17,963
2,141
A Family Thing (1996)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer2:53
1 Video
31 Photos
ComedyDrama
When an old woman dies, she leaves a note for her apparent son (Robert Duvall) which tells him that his biological mother died giving birth to him. She begs him to make peace with his half-b... Read allWhen an old woman dies, she leaves a note for her apparent son (Robert Duvall) which tells him that his biological mother died giving birth to him. She begs him to make peace with his half-brother (James Earl Jones) living in Chicago.When an old woman dies, she leaves a note for her apparent son (Robert Duvall) which tells him that his biological mother died giving birth to him. She begs him to make peace with his half-brother (James Earl Jones) living in Chicago.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
17,963
2,141
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Richard Pearce
    • Writers
      • Billy Bob Thornton
      • Tom Epperson
    • Stars
      • Robert Duvall
      • James Earl Jones
      • Michael Beach
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Richard Pearce
    • Writers
      • Billy Bob Thornton
      • Tom Epperson
    • Stars
      • Robert Duvall
      • James Earl Jones
      • Michael Beach
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
    • 71Metascore
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:53
    Trailer

    Photos31

    Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Michael Beach, and Irma P. Hall in A Family Thing (1996)
    Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones in A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)
    A Family Thing (1996)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Duvall
    Robert Duvall
    • Earl Pilcher Jr.
    James Earl Jones
    James Earl Jones
    • Ray Murdock
    Michael Beach
    Michael Beach
    • Virgil
    Irma P. Hall
    Irma P. Hall
    • Aunt T.
    Grace Zabriskie
    Grace Zabriskie
    • Ruby
    Regina Taylor
    Regina Taylor
    • Ann
    Mary Jackson
    Mary Jackson
    • Carrie
    Paula Marshall
    Paula Marshall
    • Karen
    James N. Harrell
    • Earl Pilcher Sr.
    • (as James Harrell)
    Lauren Leigh Phillips
    • Kindra
    Ashleigh Jordan
    • Danielle
    David Keith
    David Keith
    • Sonny
    Sandra Quarterman
    • Young Aunt T.
    • (as Saundra Quarterman)
    Patrice Pitman Quinn
    • Willa Mae
    Don James
    • Junior Turner
    Jim Sanderson
    • Dr. Parks
    Karla Harscheid
    • Young Carrie Pilcher
    Crystal Laws Green
    • Maotis
    • Director
      • Richard Pearce
    • Writers
      • Billy Bob Thornton
      • Tom Epperson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      James Earl Jones uses his actual stammer as part of his character.
    • Goofs
      When Earl & Ray are together in Earl's car near the end Ray says that he hasn't been back to Earl's hometown for 60 years which would be the birth year for Earl however in an earlier scene Ray had confessed to having scarred Earl by throwing a rock which had hit him as Earl & his father were exiting a store.
    • Quotes

      Earl Pilcher, Jr.: Being happy ain't nothin' more than havin' something to look forward to.

    • Crazy credits
      The original script that this movie was based on was titled "Latent Blood" by L Guy Burton. Burton did not get credit for the rewrite after giving the script to his agent at the time, The Berzon Agency of California.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Diabolique/It's My Party/Flirting with Disaster/Girl 6/Little Indian, Big City (1996)
    • Soundtracks
      Spirit In The Dark
      Written and Performed by Aretha Franklin

      Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.

      By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

    User reviews31

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Hat's Off
    Any movie about racial matters is bound to be difficult to tackle by anyone with scruples and integrity. For those who can deftly deal with the issue and make a quality movie: my hat's off to them. "A Family Thing" is a quality movie.

    Earl Pilcher, Jr. (Robert Duvall), an old white Arkansan finds out that his real mother was not the old white woman who raised him and who just passed away, but a Black woman his father had an illicit relationship with. This news rocked his genteel Southern world. He grew up a proud white Southern man who referred to Blacks as N-words. Now he has to confront the fact that A.) his father was a philanderer and B.) he was half Black. He now wanted to find his real brother, Ray Murdock (James Earl Jones), thereby fulfilling his adopted mother's wish and satisfying his own curiosity

    It wasn't a felicitous reunion between the two of them. There was some serious bitterness: Earl because he had to face the fact he wasn't white (or at least all white) and Ray because he saw Earl's father as the cause of his mother's death.

    This was a well written and finely acted drama. Billy Bob Thornton's first screenplay, "One False Move," was a good debut. "A Family Thing" is even better.
    helpful•5
    0
    • view_and_review
    • Sep 12, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 29, 1996 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • MGM (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Bir Aile Sorunu
    • Filming locations
      • Chicago, Illinois, USA
    • Production companies
      • United Artists
      • Butcher's Run Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $10,125,417
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $3,020,662
      • Mar 31, 1996
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,125,417
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • DTS-Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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