Daily Staff Writer

A Family Thing isn’t original, the script is good but not great and the story stinks of high concept, but it does have two very strong assets — namely, James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall in the lead roles.

Earl Pilcher (Duvall) is an Arkansas tractor salesman and as crusty as they come. He doesn’t like anyone, especially blacks. Earl’s mother is dying, and she has a secret, one which she does not reveal until after she has died. She arranges for Earl to receive, after her death, a letter that unveils a secret — she is not Earl’s biological mother. Her maid, who died during Earl’s birth, is.

Complicating this situation is the fact that the maid was a young black woman. Earl, an admitted racist, does not take this news well. But the letter implores him to find and get to know the maid’s other son, Ray Murdock (Jones), a longtime Chicago policeman. So Earl takes off to Chicago to find him.

What ensues is not at all surprising. Earl and Ray do not like one another one bit. Ray blames Earl for the death of his mother, and Earl doesn’t like Ray because he is black. Earl’s truck is stolen while in Chicago, but the big-hearted Ray takes him in anyway after he is injured in the carjacking. Earl’s life has been turned upside-down and he keeps trying to destroy himself while in Chicago, but Ray keeps saving him.

Again, it’s no big surprise where the story goes. The two half-brothers grow to respect and then like one another. Original, no, but the film is very well-executed.

A story which could have been played for broad laughs is instead understated, and director Richard Pearce makes a smart move by just getting out of the way of his two veteran stars.

Terrific support comes from Irma P. Hall as the acerbic Aunt T., who knows the truth about Earl and who keeps the two men moving closer and closer to one another in spite of their differences.

A major fault of the film is that it moves along a bit too quickly. Earl is set up as one hard Southern cracker, but his character changes and becomes softer after just one week. That seems just a bit too fast, clean and easy. If he was such a nice guy to begin with, why set him up as such a tough guy in the beginning?

Overall, A Family Thing is enjoyable. It’s the sort of film that shows up on cable on a lazy afternoon and provides a surprising bit of entertainment. And a film would really have to try to suck with Jones and Duvall in the leads. Those two could get up on stage and read from the phone book and it would be entertaining.