Review of A Family Thing (1996) by Nandi C — 15 Aug 2007

Imagine all the days of your life, you think your one person, but come to find out, your another. Robert Duvall runs this family business with his father and nephew, and gets called home because his mother is dying.

She doesn't say much but tells him to take care of his family. After the funeral, the Pastor come to his business with a letter that she has written, and come to find out, he's the union of a black woman who died giving birth to him and his father, who was dallying with the maid, and she tells him where he could find his family, which is Chicago.

Well he goes up there, and though he seeks out the family, James Earl Jones isn't that forthcoming to embrace him either. One of the things he asks him is "How does it feel being black?" One of the few contemporary films that deal with miscenegration and how one family deals with it.

Irma P.Hall is superb as Aunt T, who is blind, but somehow knows who he is and what he wants and lets him know in no nonesense language.