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A Family Thing

 (Drama -- Color)

By GODFREY CHESHIRE

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A United Artists presentation of a Todd Black & Randa Haines/Butchers Run Films production. Produced by Robert Duvall, Todd Black, Randa Haines. Executive producer, Michael Hausman. Co-producer, Brad Wilson. Directed by Richard Pearce. Screenplay, Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson.
 
Earl - Robert Duvall
Ray - James Earl Jones
Virgil - Michael Beach
Aunt T. - Irma P. Hall
Ruby - Grace Zabriskie
Ann - Regina Taylor
Carrie - Mary Jackson
Karen - Paula Marshall
Earl Sr. - James Harrell

 

The skills and ingratiating screen presences of stars Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones give "A Family Thing" a lift that its script, huffing and puffing, fails to match. Telling of a red-of-neck Southerner in his 60s who learns that his mother was black, then goes to urban Chicago to meet his African-American half-brother, pic gives a melodramatic spin to a premise others have played for laughs or social comment. Result has engaging and affecting moments, but the overall framework is shaky enough to make the B.O. prospects here little more than marginal.

Opening in quaint, small-town Arkansas, tale finds the clan of Earl Pilcher Jr. (Duvall) facing the demise of its matriarch. Once the funeral is past, Earl reads a letter his mother has left and is shocked to hear her account of how his father impregnated a black woman who worked for them, and who died giving birth to him. From beyond the grave, Earl's nominal mom urges him to go seek out his older half-brother, now a cop in Chicago.

Overwhelmed by the news that he's half-black, as well as by his father's shameful acts, Earl hastily takes leave of his family and points his pickup north. After a bit of looking about, he locates City Hall cop Ray Murdock (Jones), who surprises him by saying he knows exactly who Earl is and wants nothing to do with him.

Pic's first-reel introduction of Earl's family and the painful knowledge he inherits from his mom is its strongest section. Once Ray tells him to shove off, the question that looms recurrently is a thankless one: What's to keep the two men together?

The answer, alas, is little but a labored series of contrivances. The first of these clearly shows the awkwardness of having a drama that's supposed to be "character-driven" depend heavily on creaky plot machinations. Leaving town, Earl is beaten and robbed by a gang of street toughs, who steal his truck. He's taken in by Ray, naturally, for a recuperative stay that lasts far longer than planned.

Added complications come from the difficult presence of Ray's son, Virgil (Michael Beach), a divorced father of two who has a sizable chip on his shoulder and no knowledge of Earl's real identity. Ray's cramped apartment also houses his crusty, blind Aunt T., who, thanks partly to Irma P. Hall's wonderfully feisty work in the role, adds some welcome humor to the otherwise unsparkling proceedings.

Through most of its length, the saga of Earl and Ray is an unsurprising round of spats and reconciliations, with Earl wandering off alone to get soused at one point, and he and Ray tussling on the grass like grade-schoolers at another. Amid such uninspired plotting, scripters Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson, who collaborated to fine effect on "One False Move," prove they have a gift for extremely distinctive andidiomatic dramatic monologues.

The handful of powerful speeches here do little, however, to offset story weaknesses that also include soft-edged characterizations, a faintly patronizing air regarding the black characters and a general avoidance of the issue most viewers will want to see addressed. MGM's press-kit quotes helmer Richard Pearce to the effect that the film is "not about race." Given its premise, why would any sentient viewer want to see it if it's not about that?

That the issue is handled so daintily hardly helps pic's stars. Warm, bearlike Jones appears so seldom in starring roles that fans will enjoy his turn , but the actor would be better served by more focused and challenging material. And while Duvall is as solid as ever, his cracker shtick has been so overexposed by now that it's almost hard to recall the very different roles he played in "The Godfather,""THX-1138" and "The Seven Percent Solution."

Pic's production values are all top-flight, with special commendation to Fred Murphy's appealing lensing.

Camera (Deluxe color), Fred Murphy; editor, Mark Warner; music, Charles Gross; production design, Linda DeScenna; art direction, Jim Nedza; set decoration, Ric McElvin; costume design, Joe I. Tompkins; sound (DTS stereo), Glenn Williams; unit production manager, Michael Hausman; associate producer, Scott Ferguson; assistant director, Craig Huston; casting, Victoria Thomas. Reviewed at MGM/UA Screening Room, New York, March 14, 1996. MPAA rating: PG-13. Running time: 109 min.