Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As close to perfection as movies ever get., November 4, 2001
"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.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great American Film made by a foreigner . . ., May 22, 2000
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.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Duvall Shines, February 13, 2001
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.
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