Daddy and Them (2001)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Thanks for the memories!

Powerful

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

What an odd little film. I expected something a little out of the ordinary, having been a fan of Billy Bob Thornton since Slingblade, and this ALMOST worked but didn't quite - ultimately let down by Thornton's inability to end the movie.On the plus side, all the performances are good, apart from a rather hysterical turn from Brenda Blethyn, there are some nicely observed family dynamics, a few great comic lines, and the whole movie is lit brilliantly - making it visually interesting instead of potentially dull.On the minus side, it's film you have to be patient with to discover its good qualities. The dialogue is offbeat and interesting but the plot feels like a long short-film. And then the ending... what a botched job! There's a PERFECT ending which would have made this a succinct, quite special little film. Instead Thorton goes to another scene. And another AND ANOTHER and... who knows how many, because at that point the DVD we were watching got stuck in protest and we all agreed that we'd seen the best of Daddy And Them, and that we should hit eject before we became hostile.

After reading a number of IMDb reviews, I looked forward to this movie. I'm from the deep south, Mississippi, and love southern stories with eccentric characters. However, I did not identify with much in this movie. First of all, the dialogue is so heavy on the f-word that I felt embarrassed and annoyed. Southerners have more dignity and elegance. These are characters I would never want to live next door. I don't really know people quite so rude, and openly discussing sex in public is a no-no for southerners I have known. Of course, maybe I know more of those for whom the Bible-belt actually has meaning. Even when the moments become more tender towards the end, the scenes are too long and soon become boring. For me, the movie "Sordid Lives" offers a better depiction of colorful southern characters, and if you really want an odd role for Andy Griffith, see "Rustlers' Rhapsody." I can see why there was a problem with distribution of this picture. After we'd seen "Daddy & Them," my little southern group agreed that the movie is "a little less than OK."

I bought a copy of this movie, as I have with every B.B.T. movie I could find. I love it. I wasn't even aware of all the big name talents who were a part of this picture, but was very happily surprised to see the character "Alvin," who I kept thinking, "Wow, that looks like John Prine, he even sounds like John Prine." Then to find out it was him, that was a thrill. I have watched this film several times and it seems like each time I do, I catch a line that I didn't manage to hear on the first viewing. There's a lot of that going on here. My favourite scene has to be the liquor store trip, done in slo-mo to the tune of "Ghost Riders In The Sky." Brilliantly funny. I laughed my face off throughout this movie. One of my favourites. I don't know why it didn't fare better. Probably because of the dumbing down of America (and Canada as well.) The humour would go right over a lot of heads.

This is a flat-out great movie. If you've ever lived in the Deep South (deeper than Boca Raton) you'll love this film. I stumbled across it on DVD, although I'd never heard of its big screen release. The cast alone would make the movie worthwhile: Billy Bob, Andy Griffith, Laura Dern, Kelley Preston, Diane Ladd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Affleck, John Prine & Jim Varney.The haunting squalor of the Arkansas setting, which ought to be depressing, lays naked the cleverness of the dialogue. Billy Bob's ear as a writer is as flawless as his delivery as an actor. Andy Griffith deadpanning in his role as patriarch of a hopelessly dysfunctional Ozark family is the funniest freaking thing I've seen since Alan Arkin in "The In-Laws." Cameos by Jamie Lee Curtis & Ben Affleck as fish-out-of-water attorneys work wonderfully. Laura Dern's red-line energy is the perfect comic foil for Billy Bob's perfect understatement.This is a gem of a film and as real as a whacked-out comedy set in the South can be.