Like Cinefil, one of my favorite things I have to do is discover supported and forgotten gems directed or written by great actors in Hollywood. It is similar to finding gold in places where you went a thousand times before, but I never mind looking at them carefully. That's how I discovered the fascinating historical masterpiece of Robert Redford "Quiz -Show" a few years ago, and in the same way I found Richard Pierce's cordial family of 1996, "family thing", written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom. Thornton and Epson actually collaborated on several scenarios - including Cult classic crime flick "one fake move" And Sam Raimi's mysterious horror "gift" - during their careers. The "Family Something" came shortly before the celebrated directorial debut of the former, Sling Blade, for which he wrote and won an Oscar for 1997.

I grew up "sling blade" because the film shares some important roots with "family work". Both films refer to Arcansans who have to face painful losses and difficult truths. In the second, Earl Pilcher (Robert Duval), a simple man from Arkansas's small town, must bid farewell to his painful mother on her deathbed, leaving behind an iousebopite letter to inform her son that she is not his biological mother. His real Ma was their maid, Villa May, black, raped by Earl's white father and died giving birth. As a man in the 1960s (who lived his whole life thinking he was white), the news shook the whole basis of Earl's world. The letter also says that he has a half -brother named Ray (Jamesesi Earl Onesons), a police officer living with his family in Chicago. And the desire with Earl's mom's deathbed is to find and meet his brothers and sisters.

Earl is torn to what to do, but he is too decent to Heller to ignore his mother's last wish. So he packs his truck along with the ambivalent feelings circulating in his heart and heading to the big city to find some answers.

I know what you are thinking: Today a movie like this would have a relentless Oscar campaign around it, which can quickly turn it into a Schmalz, emphasizing how the red red reconciles and accepts its semi-black color of its old age. They may have been able to do so in the 1990s, but fortunately, it's not the main focus of "family work". Of course, Earl is in conflict over his newly discovered origin that mixes his entire identity, but despite all his anger and resentment, he is making efforts to get to know Ray even if he is initially hostile and disgusted with him.

Duval playing Earl with pride and masculinity, but finds a way to allow the kindness and vulnerability to break through that hard lining that has been worn for 60 years. He is just as unstable and shortly as one would be in his shoes after such a discovery, but also respected and careful enough not to blame his brother (and his family) for his sins (especially his father). Given the multilayer performance of Duval, it is not surprising that the seed of the story actually comes from him (According to Epeson), after wanting to play a semi-black character for a while. But that would not work like without Onesons, which revives the type of old-fashioned, strict, yet gentle African-American, which you don't see much more.

When they meet, Ray hates Earl because he always accuses him of his mother's death. But he is gradually warming up to man because he feels that his intentions and emotions are clean - come from a place of confusion, iOsubocity and feeling lost. There is a scene where the two men share stories of their childhood, the Korean War in which they served and the losses they suffered. They open up to each other in a way that makes their differences, hatred and color secondary color. They speak as two human beings related to blood, but parted with time, trying to find a common foundation and build a relationship. And when they do it, it feels like Old Hollywood magic It caresses the soul like nothing else. They have no agendas, unusual motives, or anything to get anything else than a relationship. It is a significant cinema at best.

I couldn't continue without mentioning Irma P. Hall, who plays the blind and wise aunt of the brothers and sisters, helping them find a resolution even if she has to scold and force them to put aside their bitterness and pain and behave as good brothers should behave. It is crucial to the story, the bridge that connects and neutralizes racial division, teaching his grandchildren (and us) that reconciliation and forgiveness are just as important to life as the air we breathe. The scene where it tells Earl's birth is both a beautiful and heart frame, the last dive that Ray and Earl should fully accept and appreciate each other as brothers. Also, it perfectly sets it a quiet heart and peaceful end as the two return home, where their lives began, to pay tribute to the woman with whom none of them really knew or had enough time to spend. Big words are not said, but their simple gestures are eloquent enough to capture the sadness and warmth that vibrate through every move. After 60 years, they make peace with their past and each other.

Shame is Thornton and Eperson do not work many many these days (their last co-written scenario was "Jayain Mansfield Car" in 2012 "), but it also makes us wealth neglected precious stones as "family work" for more than that reason. Traditional, bitter and attractive small film that never tries to play too much on our heart plates, and in turn, it is much better appreciated than most family plays for broken and relaxed relationships.