Everything about this movie touched my heart. Robert Duvall has to be the best actor who's ever tread the face of this earth. The way he 'sinks into' his character in this particular film is almost uncanny. The completely fresh and unexpected perspective from which the story is written took my breath away. I confess when I first saw this film I had no idea who Billy Bob Thorton(one of the co-writers) was - I just knew that this was one of the best movies I'd ever seen. Never at any time during this film do you get that feeling of 'I've seen this somewhere before' - and in this day and age that's almost unheard of. How come you haven't seen it yet?? Believe me it's worth the hunt.

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.

Irma P. Hall should have won the Oscar for this performance. I can't believe she wasn't even nominated. Duvall and Jones were also wonderful. An actor's treat!