SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Many African-American families include persons of varied complexions, from the darkest hues to the lightest. These light-complexioned individuals are simply "white" as the world reckons appearances. This very fact makes blacks and whites kin within the last four or five generations. Aunt T gives perhaps the most profound statement in this film: "Nobody ever knows what it's like for somebody else. That's always the problem." The writer Guy Murchie wrote that if there is anyone we disdain, do not shake our family tree because our ancestors both near and far will surprisingly show up with every racial variant imaginable. For some "A Family Thing" speaks an unpalatable truth: blacks and whites are kin and closely related to each other.

I would like to give this movie a higher rating, but there is something that detracts from it's quality. Duvall is a brilliant actor, but perhaps the whitest guy in Hollywood. His complex is pale, and he doesn't have any curls to his hair. Now, it is hard to believe that Nicole Ritchie is half-black, but you can see she has a darker complexion. Therefore, it is impossible to believe that Duvall's character is half-black.If Duvall's character grew up in this very white small town, people probably would have suspected he had American Indian, Italian, or Hispanic blood. Duvall's character may have been aware that he was not totally Scotch-Irish. If he were in the Bayou, perhaps it wouldn't be as big a deal. But in farm country of the South, highly unlikely that he wouldn't be aware of something.I didn't like the fact that Duvall's character goes to the big city and all of a sudden he is being considered half-black. It would be more of an adjustment than the movie portrays. In addition, his nephew probably would have resented him giving advice to him. Why wouldn't James Earl Jones' character be the one to give him advice.The movie was interesting, but this point severally detracts from it's credibility. I have a better idea. Why not make Duvall's character 100% white, and have the Father having an extramarital affair that produced Jones' character. Jones' is definitely light to medium brown complexion. He could be a believable mulatto.The Father could be the one dying. On his deathbed he can confess that he had an extramarital affair, and that there was a half-brother to Duvall's character. The Father could leave out the fact that his brother is half-black. Then Duvall's character shows up, and is completely shocked.This would have been a better idea. Duvall could have been conflicted, because he was so white, but now he had to accept that his brother was half-black. In addition, Jones' family would deal with their own fears and reluctance in accepting Duvall's character. This would have been a more meaningful scenario. It would have forced both races to accept that they have a father in common.

What a pleasant surprise this was. I caught this one day on Showtime and really didn't give it much of a chance. But I was so wrong!! Powerful performance by Irma P. Hall (as Aunt T.), and Robert Duvall is at his best as well. Wonderfully acted and written, this has to be the best movie I have seen in a long while. Sure, the same old southern stereotypes are portrayed as well as the same for the inner-city black culture, with many being quite accurate. Some parts were a little over the top, like the birthday party in the bar that Earl crashes as a total stranger. But that being said, not a lot of negatives I can say about this movie.

This is a movie that reminds one of the saying: "Just when I thought I knew the answers, they changed the questions." A Caucasian man discovers late in life that his mother was actually Black, instead of the White woman who raised him. The history of slavery in the US, and the American version of apartheid in the south that followed the Civil War until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and given the often "strained" relations that exist today; the subject matter is important and challenging. The result is that "A Family Thing" is a little gem. It speaks of bigotry, fear, the way things were and the way things are. Some White Americans will not be comfortable with this movie. This will be due to the bigoted nature of Mr. Duvall's character, metaphoric of White hatred towards Blacks. Then, his world crumbles when he discovers when all is not what it seems. Kudos to the producers(of whom Mr. Duvall was one) and the cast for a superb lesson in confronting hate, and how one special Aunt can heal wounds generations old.