Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(June 2020) |
Pierce Mundy is a young African-American man working at his mother's dry cleaning business. He is troubled by his brother Wendell's engagement to Sonia, a privileged woman whom he thinks was "spoon-fed". He frequently bickers with his family members about his lack of direction in life, and gets into physical altercations with his father. He's also flirted with by a teenaged girl, Angela, whose advancements he frequently rebuffs. Pierce's mother warns him to behave at dinner in front of Sonia and Wendell, but they inevitably fight over their different backgrounds, with his family picking Sonia's side.
Pierce's friend, Soldier, is due to be released from jail. Soldier's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, beg Pierce to help keep him out of jail once he is released. Pierce frequents local businesses in order to help Soldier get a job, but they are uninterested in hiring him due to his reputation. Upon Soldier's release, Pierce is visited by a man previously wronged by Soldier, and threatens to kill Soldier the next time he sees him. A few days later, a man attempts to shoot Pierce and Soldier, only for his gun to be unloaded. Pierce and Soldier chase the man, with Pierce letting him go.
As Wendell and Sonia's wedding approaches, the Mundy family hosts Sonia and the Richardsons for dinner, where Pierce's mother begs him to not embarrass their family. When Mr. Richardson asks Pierce what he does for a living, Pierce becomes agitated, saying he enjoys physical labor and isn't smart enough to be a lawyer. Pierce's mother says that it would have been nice to have a doctor and a lawyer in the family like the Richardsons, but Pierce remarks that they are all crooks, insulting Mr. Richardson. Sonia brags about her recent victory in court, causing Pierce to snap at her because she'd let a murderer go free, an exchange that bitterly ends the dinner.
While working at the store, Pierce allows Soldier to have sex with a woman in the back. Pierce's mother suddenly returns to retrieve her prayer book, walking in on Soldier and his friend having sex on her laundry and prayer book. The next day, Soldier is waiting in a car for Pierce with another girl and sends Angela to go tell Pierce to hurry up. Angela refuses to relay the message to Pierce, and they leave without him. Later that night, Soldier and his friend get into a car accident and die.
When Pierce learns of Soldier's death, he runs to console the Richards family, who tell him the funeral is set for Saturday. Pierce feels obligated to help them find pallbearers, but realizes the funeral is set for the day of his brother's wedding, where he'll serve as the best man. He urges his family to change the date of the wedding, but they refuse due to his disdain of Sonia. He returns to the Richards residence, where Mr. Richards complains of the stress caused by planning the funeral and having relatives fly into town. Pierce abandons the idea of rescheduling the events, resolving to somehow attend both. On the day of the wedding, Pierce arrives late and tells his mother that he cannot serve as the best man. She angrily tells him to sit down, but he leaves with the wedding rings and drives to Soldier's funeral, only to arrive too late.