
A Family Thing
With family, everything is relative.
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.
Director Richard Pearce
Cast

Grace Zabriskie
Ruby

Meg Thalken
Doctor

Reggie Hayes
Virgil's Friend

James Earl Jones
Ray Murdock

Xander Berkeley
Sunburned Man

Greg Hollimon
Man #2

Regina Taylor
Ann

Paula Marshall
Karen

Phillip Edward Van Lear
Club Manager

Robert Duvall
Earl Pilcher Jr.

Tommy Bush
Old Man

Michael Beach
Virgil

David Keith
Sonny

Mary Jackson
Carrie

James N. Harrell
Earl Pilcher Sr.

Jacqueline Williams
Woman at Hospital

Eddie Bo Smith Jr.
Green Mill Bouncer (uncredited)

Irma P. Hall
Aunt T.