A Family Thing

Plot

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

Robert Duvall

Earl Pilcher Jr.

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

Jacqueline Williams

Woman at Hospital

Mary Jackson

Carrie

Paula Marshall

Karen

Phillip Edward Van Lear

Club Manager

Meg Thalken

Doctor

Richard Lexsee

Truckjacker

James N. Harrell

Earl Pilcher Sr.