Customer Reviews

Tender Mercies

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Tender Mercies" proves beyond doubt that Americans can make movies the way Europeans do, and still make them unmistakably American. Sure, the director, Bruce Beresford, is Australian, but screenwriter Horton Foote and star Robert Duvall--both of whom won richly deserved Oscars--root this movie firmly in Texas soil. As Mac Sledge, an alcoholic country singer trying to rebuild his life and career, Duvall gives a performance of astounding complexity and emotional impact, all the more astounding because of its laconic spareness. It ranks as one of the greatest performances ever given by an American actor. He is nearly matched by Tess Harper as his new wife and Ellen Barkin as his daughter from his first marriage, and Russell Boyd's photography captures the Texas prairie in all its stark, lonesome beauty. Two other performances that deserve praise are those of Betty Buckley as Mac's country-star first wife--a woman who has let paranoia and resentment take over her life--and Allan Hubbard as Mac's stepson, a resoundingly normal, likable kid. Don't come to this movie looking for slam-bang action--it's a quiet, gentle slice of life, brimming with poignant emotion, filled with love and respect for its characters and their way of life.

Sometimes you can't do it any better. This is one of those times. Bruce Beresford has crafted a perfect film; one who's only drawback is that it ever has to end. Beresford, Robert Duvall and Tess Harper manage to create both characters and a world that allow you fall into the screen and forget you are watching a film. You will be moved to both tears and laughter, and left feeling very warm in a subtle way forgotten by most of today's Twist Your Emotions With Blunt Force films.

The story of a man, Mac Sledge, who has seen bright lights and soaring heights but has now fallen on extremely hard times. Drunk, broke, and looking none to trustworthy, Mac is befriended, and finally loved, by a young widow and her son. And that's basically it. There's a subplot involving Mac's estranged relationships with his daughter and ex-wife, but primarily it's about one man picking himself up, dusting himself off, and getting on with life after having been kicked in the pants.

The crux of the film is Duvall, and in more ways than one. First is his complex portrayal of Mac. Conditioned by so many formula movies, you keep waiting for Mac to fall of the wagon, only to redeem himself again somehow. But Mac never does fall, and Duvall lets you see just how difficult that is. How hard, but also how satisfying, it is for a man to stand up to life when all he wants to do is run and hide. And he does it without ever even doing so much as raising his voice.

But his acting isn't all Duvall gives to the film. Singing his own songs, Duvall makes you firmly believe that Mac Sledge has an ocean of musical talent. With not much of a voice, and singing rather simple, country tunes, Duvall nevertheless evokes powerful images of love, loss and redemption.

Certainly there is never a good reason not to see any movie starring Duvall, but this one is perhaps the finest of them all, with only The Apostle and Lonesome Dove ranking up there with Tender Mercies.

As I said, you don't want Tender Mercies to end. You want to spend just a few more minutes with Mac and his family, maybe getting to hear him croak out one more soft tune. But end it does, and it does so both subtly and abruptly. It's abrupt because you really aren't expecting the final scene to be the final scene. There's been no mammoth resolution of these people's lives, just slow and steady change and improvement. But that's why I also call it subtle. Because the sudden end fits in perfectly with the picture's meaning. Life doesn't end with swelling music and concrete resolutions, and stories about life are truer when they don't as well. Tender Mercies ends as it began, with a simple moment cut out of a man's life. And it's the triumph of the movie that it allows you to compare the simple final scene to the first one and realize that, for Mac Sledge, it's an accomplishment as dramatic as walking on the moon.

It so happens that Tender Mercies was my very first DVD purchase - only because it was marked down to a ridiculous $7.49 (probably due to a protracted shelf life) and because it is easily one of the best American films of the last twenty years (hang it! of the last fifty years!). Bruce Beresford is one of those itinerant directors who has managed a career out of a suitcase. Yet every film he has made, excepting perhaps Her Alibi, is something of a masterpiece. Tender Mercies could be used to instruct film school students about how suggestive a film can be with an absolute minimum of means. Mac Sledge and the people he encounters in that armpit of the world have only the most rudimentary means of expression. Song writing, though littered with the usual emblematic platitudes, is his only chance at what might otherwise be mistaken for self-transcendence, but is actually his only way of expressing the bafflement he feels in the face of life. Meretriciously, but sweetly, his bitter ex-wife (played beautifully by Betty Buckley) has made a good living off all the love songs he once wrote for her, and continues to sing them (albeit without conviction). When he finds happiness again, even if he refuses to trust it, he is compelled to write songs again. And one of the loveliest scenes in the film is his unassuming return to singing. And Robert Duvall creates another of his sculptured performances of a simple man who finds eloquence through his mistrust of happiness and his bewilderment at life. Tender Mercies is a Great American Film, without bothering with the ubiquitous sound and fury that signifies so little in most others.

I am so used to the commercial-minded movies of today that every time the characters in this film would settle into a quiet moment, I would wait for someone to pull out a gun or go crazy and beat someone up. But by the end, I was comforted by the quiet, powerful way that this movie is made. Robert Duvall is fantastic, and so are all of the supporting characters. If I had to give one piece of advice to anyone considering watching this movie, it would be to relax, because this movie doesn't require you to be on your guard. It's not going to get your trust and then go crazy. That's what I found so amazing about it.

Robert Duvall stars in this film as Mac Sledge, a famous former country music star who after years of struggling with alcoholism begins life again thanks in part to the love of a young widow (Tess Harper) and her son. This is not the typical Hollywood movie. In fact, this isn't even the typical Hollywood drama. The film feels like a very personal piece of moviemaking, as though it is a documentary brilliantly edited together to tell a simple, yet profound and moving story. Until THE APOSTLE, this was Duvall's best work and illustrated the true greatness of his acting talent. The screenplay won an Academy Award for the great Horton Foote and it doesn't take a genius to see why. Life truly is beautiful and God's mercies are tender.

Robert Duvall gives the most complete performance of a spectacular career. He stars as a washed up country named Mac Sledge. Booze has been his down fall and his once great career is now in the toilet. He ends up with a woman (Tess Harper) and her young son. He starts to pick up the pieces of his life by doing work around the house. He fall in love with the woman and they eventually marry. He sings a few songs at a local honky tonk and everything is going great. His ex-wife (Betty Buckley) is still a big star, but is struggling with their daughter. The daughter comes and sees Mac and they bond like they never have before, but she is tragically killed. He must come face to face with all his past problems. Mr. Duvall plays the role of Mac perfectly. We feel his troubles, his loss, the rebirth he goes through. He is stunning in the role. Ms. Harper is very good as is a very young Ellen Barkin as his daughter. Mr. Duvall won a richly deserved Best Actor Oscar and Horton Foote who had previously won an Oscar for To Kill A Mockingbird (in which Mr. Duvall made his debut in) won a second for his screenplay.

What a sleeper this movie is!

I have only recently discovered the versatile talents of Robert Duvall and bought this because of his Oscar winning role in this movie. The Oscar is well-deserved but so are the performances of everyone else: Tess Harper in her theatrical debut, young Ellen Barkin and Texas-born child actor Allen Hubbard also round out the story.

Duvall plays a recovering alcoholic who tries to hide from his past. His past is filled with hard drinking, violence and carelessness. This behavior results in his divorce from his country-singing wife (Betty Buckley) who is still making her Opry rounds with great success.

But this is not just a movie about a former alcoholic fighting for redemption. You don't see Duvall drink in this movie. This is about lost love, war, internal personal struggles, faith and second chances. This is an emotional movie. One realizes early in this slow-moving film that there are secrets that will be revealed. It takes a tragic death for the main characters to come together, all which come to surface in the last ten minutes when Duvall's character talks emotionally to Tess Harper in her small garden patch as the wind blows her hair and dress wayward. Very touching.

Duvall is a convincingly good singer. There is no dubbing his voice in this film.

This movie was filmed in around Parker and Waxahachie, Texas, two isolated and lonely small towns that are constant backdrops of the story. The dry flat prarie, the blowing sand, the wide blue skies, the wind-blown traffic signs and the gentle demeanor of the characters make this truly a good Texas movie.

A bonus to this copy is the 32-minute extra "Miracles and Mercies" of the director and the main characters talking about their feelings of making this movie nearly 20 years after this movie was made. This was a harmonious cast of actors and directors who got together to make this masterpiece.

Excellent film. Wonderful acting. Outstanding script about grace and redemption. One of my all time favorites.

This is the movie that he won his FIRST academy award for filmed in Seven Points Texas where he got to sing for the first time in his career at Cedar Creek Plowboys Club owned by Reba Anderson. This movie has a lot of meaning behind it and its a real cowboy type movie where he is down on his luck...divorce...coping with day to day from alcohol. Its a GREAT A++++ Movie...

This movie, while lacking a few things like BIG BUDGET and SPECIAL EFFECTS, is very satisfying to those who enjoy a realistic, human story. The first time I saw it I was relatively unmoved, but as I've gotten older and I've seen it a few more times, I had to buy it. The tale is simple enough: a practicing/recovering alcoholic country singer lands in the life of a flatland Texas family: a mother and son. There is no father around and the man finds himself filling that role while trying to recap and reconcile issues of his past. Robert Duvall is a great actor and he wrote and sang several of the songs in this movie.
Overall, this is one impressive film that I recommend.