Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

bkoganbing Red State America never got treated better than in Tender Mercies. It's a simple and sublime story of a former country singing star trying to pick up the pieces of his life.At one time Robert Duvall was one of the biggest names in country music with an appetite for life's pleasures to match. There's an opening flashback scene where we see a frightened Betty Buckley both trying to get away from a raging and drunken Duvall and protecting their little girl at the same time.As Duvall has drifted into obscurity Buckley has grown into a big country Loretta Lynn/Patsy Cline type superstar. Now with her taking her tour into the area of Texas the two are destined to meet.Duvall is now married to a woman who owns a small motel and filling station and he's a loving stepdad to young Allyn Hubbard. Tess Harper and Duvall are happy but both have a lot of stuff that is unsaid that gets said during the course of the film. Duvall also has now reunited with his daughter Ellen Barkin who may have inherited talent from both ends of the gene pool.Tender Mercies is simple and profound with not a false note struck either in the singing or the acting. You will rarely see a performance as profound and as underplayed as Duvall's is this side of Spencer Tracy. Small wonder he was the Best Actor Oscar winner. Horton Foote's original screenplay also won the other Oscar that Tender Mercies took home.If you're a country music fan you'll love this film and for Robert Duvall fans it's a must.

Lechuguilla Toward the end a character asks a number of why questions; why did this happen, why that? We don't always know why things work out the way they do; but that's life, for everyone. That's kind of the theme of this slow-developing character study of a damaged man named Mac (Robert Duvall), former country songwriter and singer.The script tells the story of Mac and his life in the slow lane, and his relationship to Rosa (Tess Harper) and others around him. It's a story of simple but genuine folks whose lives center on basic human values like dignity, honesty, and absence of pretense The lonely, barren spaces of West Texas provide the backdrop for the story. As such, the film reminds me of three other films about down home folks set in the rural South: "Gilbert Grape", "Silkwood" and "The Last Picture Show".There's not much in the way of high drama here; there's no suspense; nor is there any mystery. The entire plot plays out in a natural sort of way, as does life for most people. Things just happen; we ponder why; we move on.Visuals look realistic with natural lighting and lots of wide-angle camera shots. Also adding to the sense of realism is detailed production design appropriate to rural Texas. Film direction, casting, and acting are fairly competent.My only real complaints relate to the slow pace and the music. If the pace had been any slower, the story would have stopped; and with the absence of high drama or anything startling in the plot, some viewers will become bored, as I did during a few segments. Also, I was disappointed with the country songs that were sung. None were memorable. As such, the film's tone was less evocative than it could have been.Slow-moving and very low-key, "Tender Mercies" offers viewers a plausible and deeply thematic story of life in a rural setting with characters that are believable and fairly likable. Too bad they don't make many films like this anymore.

MartinHafer "Tender Mercies" is one of those rare movies I have seen more than once. The first time was back in the early 1980s when it first came out and I must admit it that I didn't particularly like it. I felt it was just way too slow and too low energy. So, almost three decades later, I decided to give it a try once again. After all, I've seen a lot of films since then and my tastes have changed considerably. And, since this is a film that earned Robert Duvall the Oscar for Best Actor, I decided to give it a try once again.So what did I think this time? Well, I certainly liked it a lot more. But, I can STILL understand why it didn't appeal to me when I was 19 and saw it the first time. If you are looking for excitement or much in the way of pacing, then the film would clearly be tough going. But, as I've aged, I much more look for characterizations--and there are many good ones in this one--particularly Robert Duvall. He did a nice job in portraying an alcoholic musician--a guy who must have been the inspiration, at least in part, for Jeff Bridges' starring role in "Crazy Heart"--a film which, incidentally, featured Duvall in a supporting role! Overall a fascinating but slow film--good for someone willing to cut the film a bit of slack.

Syl Robert Duvall was awarded an Oscar for his performance in this quiet film about a down and out country music singer who rebuilds his life in the Texas flatlands. Mac Sledge was a songwriter and singer but alcoholism and the success nearly destroyed him. Suddenly, he wakes up and changes his life at a gas station and motel in the middle of Texas highways. He falls in love with the young Vietnam widow, Rosa Lee, who lost her first husband in Vietnam and is a single mother to Sonny. Mac slowly gets off the sauce as they say. Rosa Lee doesn't know much about his past. They have a quiet relationship. They work the business and live quietly. When Mac's past comes back, he admits it to her. He has a bitter ex-wife Dixie Scott (played well by Betty Buckley) and an 18 year old daughter, Sue Ann Sledge (played by a young Ellen Barkin). Wilford Brimley plays Harry as Dixie's manager. Mac fights to keep his new life from being destroyed by his past. I would have given a 10 but I wasn't happy with what happened to Sue Ann in the film.