RAFY Whoopi Goldberg and Ving Rhames in ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short’

On TV even more than on the printed page, Terry McMillan’s “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” plays like one of those stories you tell your kids to get them to shape up.

Once upon a time, there was the Prince family, headed by Viola (Whoopi Goldberg) and Cecil (Ving Rhames). They had four children — three girls and a boy.

All four were smart and loved. The boy had some trouble with substance abuse, but the girls grew up to be, by all appearances, successful.

Still, all four behaved selfishly, in ways that harmed others, and in the end that brought unhappiness to themselves and their family.

The seeds of this discontent are multiple and familiar, telescoped into one family.

Cecil worked so hard building his business and supporting the family that he inadvertently shut out Viola. By the time he realized it, it was too late for them to recapture what they once had.

Whoopi Goldberg as Viola in ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short’

So when we meet Cecil, he's got a new woman. Viola, who suffers from much worse lung problems than she lets anybody knows, keeps herself busy trying to help the children cope with drug addiction, workaholism, control issues, rebellious teenagers and a couple of other problems that are even starker and more bracing.

“Day Late” plays like a cauldron of bad choices, all mixed together, with Viola trying desperately to make everyone stop feeding the fire.

It’s not surprising that in the end, Viola only has one final card to play.

Much of “Day Late” is not upbeat. Happily, fine acting by Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, Tichina Arnold and Mekhi Phifer, along with Goldberg and Rhames, makes it a cautionary tale worth watching.