A Family Thing

Unjustly-neglected in theaters, this sleeper is ripe for discovery on video. Robert Duvall stars as an Arkansas man whose world is rocked by the news that his birth mother was a black domestic. James Earl Jones costars as his half-brother, a Chicago cop who lives with his embittered son and blind, plain-speaking Aunt T (scene-stealer Irma P. Hall). Bonding does not come easy, but it is achieved honestly with a minimum of contrivance and cliché. A real pleasure, with three of the year's best performances (which you just know will be overlooked at Oscar-time). Recommended. (K. Lee Benson)