Main Cast: Jeff Bailey, Billy Bob Thornton, Brenda Blethyn, Laura Dern, Jim Varney, Daniel Steven Di Vito, Diane Ladd, Walton Goggins, Andy Griffith
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Billy Bob Thornton wrote, directed, and starred in this serio-comic look at the trials (literally and figuratively) of an eccentric Arkansas family. Struggling musician Claude (Thornton) and his wife Ruby (Laura Dern) get the news that Claude's uncle Hazel (Jim Varney) has been accused of murder and is in jail awaiting trial. Claude and Ruby head for the Alabama town where they grew up, and, before long, there's a friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) war of words among the factions of the family, including Claude's mother Jewel (Diane Ladd), father O.T. (Andy Griffith), and sister Rose (Kelly Preston). Daddy and Them's supporting cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Affleck as a pair of married attorneys, Brenda Blethyn as Hazel's wife Julia, and Jeff Bailey, and John Prine as Claude's brothers. While Daddy and Them was shot in 1999 -- and would have been his first directorial effort after his breakthough hit Sling Blade -- the film stayed in the editing room for several years, and wasn't released until after his third feature, All The Pretty Horses. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Billy Bob Thornton - Director, Marty Stuart - Composer (Music Score), Larry Meistrich - Producer, Robert Salerno - Producer, J. Geyer Kosinski - Producer, Stephen Flick - Supervisor/Manager, Billy Bob Thornton - Screenwriter
