DON'T LOOK BACK;A FAMILY THING (1997)

Sling Blade's Billy Bob Thornton and cowriter Tom Epperson display impressive stylistic breadth in the scripts for these starkly different pictures. The made-for-cable Don't Look Back delivers tense thrills as a vicious drug dealer (Thornton, who did similar duty in the 1992 cult hit One False Move) pursues a grubby junkie (Stoltz) who stole a briefcase full of money. Though burdened with extraneous Gulf War psychological motivation, the story develops smartly toward a violent showdown. Without the violence, A Family Thing, which revisits the Southern racial secrecy underlying One False Move, is even more satisfying. When a crusty white Arkansan (Duvall) learns the shocking truth of his parentage, he travels to Chicago to meet the brother (Jones) he didn't know he had. The characters' abrupt development is implausible, but the film hits emotional highs with credible dialogue and brilliant performances by Duvall and Irma P. Hall as the brothers' wise old aunt. Don't Look Back: B-; A Family Thing: B+

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