Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton has wrote, directed and acted in this ensemble cast about dysfunctional family in Arkansas. His wife's uncle Hazel is charged with attempted murder. Hazel is played by the late Jim Varney (Ernest). Varney is completely different here. Andy Griffith plays the family patriarch. Laura Dern plays Ruby, Claude's wife. Her real life mother Diane Ladd plays her on screen mother. Brenda Blethyn OBE plays a British psychologist married into the family. Jamie Lee Curtis and Ben Affleck plays mismatched couple of attorneys. I believe Blethyn had the best scenes of all. After watching Sling Blade, I could see Billy Bob's genius as actor, director, and screenwriter. This film is more light hearted than Sling Blade. The film has some problems but it's fairly enjoyable.

I love that Billy Bob Thornton is unafraid to portray our state as it pretty much is. Of course, there are educated, worldly people here, but the truth is that many Arkansans are as portrayed in the film. The acting is very good, and Laura Dern does an excellent job of portraying her character's complexes. The undercurrent of emotion is consistent throughout the movie creating a quiet chaos and sense of desperation that is the repressed emotion of the family portrayed. This is a true characteristic of the emotional life of many here in Arkansas and I assume in the South in general. These are good, stoic folks. They are not stupid though one may assume they are ignorant. There is a great tenderness and respect in BBT's treatment of the characters. The resolution of the movie remains true to the overall tone and left me with a poignant yet hopeful feeling.Also, LOVED Walton Goggins' turn as a gay man. Priceless. This was also handled with quiet respect and humor. There was not a weak performance in the bunch.

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.

I won't rehash what everyone else has said but make an interesting observation. The characters in "Daddy & Them" pretty well represent every individual in this world - in all our glorious dysfunction. Every once in a while, someone comes along that gives our idiosyncrasies a voice- brings us together even if just for a little while. The kind of things that we all know in our hearts but never hear anyone put accurately into words. In real life, one of these rare individuals is songwriter John Prine. I wonder if Billy Bob thought about this when he cast JP in the role of Alvin - an enigmatic oddity who ultimately nails the situation and brings everyone together, even if just for a little while?