A Family Thing is a 1996 film starring Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones and Irma P. Hall. It was written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and directed by Richard Pearce.
The film is a drama about a Scotch-Irish American Southerner (Duvall) named Earl Pilcher, whose late mother makes a shocking revelation in a letter that is given to him after her death. She reveals that Earl's biological mother was an African American maid named Willa Mae, who was raped by Earl's (white) father and that she died while giving birth to Earl. His adoptive mother's dying wish is that he go to Chicago to meet his half-brother, Raymond Murdoch (Jones). Ray blames Earl's father for his own mother's death and does not want to speak to Earl, whose very presence reminds Ray of the past. But his loving Aunt T. (Hall) welcomes Earl and insists the family accept him.
Earl initially takes the unexpected news of his mixed parentage badly, tearfully challenging his father to confirm the facts in the letter. As a result, he packs up his clothes and takes off for Chicago to find his brother. He meets Ray at city hall (where Ray works as a police officer) and Ray, although he really wants nothing to do with
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