mattkratz This is a good movie, good on plot and loaded on character study and message. Robert Duvall, in an Oscar-winning role, is a has-been country singer given a second chance with a new wife and a stepson (the previous father/husband in this family had been killed in Vietnam) while his ex-wife continues a successful singing career while prohibiting him from seeing their daughter due the the fact that he used to be an alcoholic and tended to be violent when he was drunk. He attempts to reconcile with his former family, gets a second chance at his career when an aspiring band drops by the gas station where he works, and makes the most of his second chance with his new family and has to deal with a new tragedy.This is mostly a study about decisions in your life, relations with other people, dealing with tragedy, and second chances. It deserved its Oscar awards. Duvall and the rest of the superb cast was excellent, as were the songs and scenes. I loved it and you will too. *** out of ****

sol- Reduced to a life of drunkenness, a former famous country singer finds the inspiration to turn his life around after befriending a lonely widow who works an outskirts gas station in this Horton Foote scripted drama that won Robert Duvall his only ever Oscar. Always reliable when given the right character to play, Duvall is excellent throughout and the film benefits from a memorable, emotionally charged theme song that was also nominated for an Oscar. The overall film though is never quite as compelling as Duvall's performance. While the script offers memorable dialogue ("I don't trust happiness"), it provides little in the way of plot complications for Duvall's character to overcome. Initially, a nosey reporter and a bunch of country music fans who track Duvall down seem like they might tear at old wounds, but on the contrary, they only help him to further improve. Admittedly a surprise off-screen death offers a little jolt, but in general, 'Tender Mercies' offers such an upbeat tale, done in such high spirits that it is hard to take it as anything down-to-earth or realistic. Quitting alcohol proves no challenge to Duvall; same goes for rejoining the music scene - and thus his character never really feels like he has that much to go through. As mentioned though, Duvall is superb, and in fact the entire supporting cast - especially Allan Hubbard as a surrogate son - deliver well. The film also makes country living under wide open skies look very attractive. Its positive reputation is certainly understandable, but one's mileage with 'Tender Mercies' may vary.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. What a cinematic treat to revisit this movie on the big screen some 30 years after its release. Standing in stark contrast to the superhero and graphic novel special effects extravaganzas of today, this little film takes a slow, simmering approach as it deals with real emotions of life.Robert Duvall won his only (so far) Oscar (he's been nominated 6 times) for playing Mac Sledge, a divorced former C&W singer/songwriter who spends each day trying to kill the pain by draining bottles of booze. The similarities to Jeff Bridges' 2009 film Crazy Heart are unmistakable, but this film is much quieter with emotions being relayed through the eyes and body language of the key characters.Mac's gradual path to redemption comes courtesy of war-widow Rosa Lee, played exceedingly well by Tess Harper (her first feature film). Rosa Lee runs a gas station/hotel while raising her young boy named Sonny (Allan Hubbard in his only screen appearance). As the story develops, we meet Mac's ex-wife Dixie, played by a bombastic Betty Buckley (the mom from TV's Eight is Enough, a Tony winner, the helpful teacher in the original Carrie) as she lives a life of luxury and insecurity courtesy of a career singing Mac's songs. Their daughter is played by Ellen Barkin in only her second screen appearance (Diner, 1982). Dixie's manager offers us a chance to see the always superb Wilford Brimley with his drawling charm.The story was written by the remarkable Horton Foote (a native Texan), who also won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Mr. Foote also won an Oscar for adapting Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for the screen, was nominated for The Trip to Bountiful, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955, and was nicknamed the "American Chekov". His works always captured the essence of what makes people tick, and how they deal with adversity. He passed away in 2009 at age 92.Australian director Bruce Beresford was coming off the masterful Breaker Morant (nominated for his screenplay) and was surprised to be chosen to direct his first American film. He would later go on to direct Driving Miss Daisy, winner of the Best Picture Oscar. Mr. Beresford is now in his 7th decade of film work spanning his 1959 short film and his TV mini-series Bonnie & Clyde from 2013.This is such a no-frills, down-to-earth presentation that it's easy to be tricked into thinking it's a simple story about simple people. Instead, these are complicated folks leading complicated lives in a seemingly quiet manner. Mostly they are re-assembling the pieces as best they can ... some are better at it than others. The core of these people is captured in Mac's line: "I don't trust happiness. I never did. I never will".

[email protected] Mack Sledge is a former country music star, now living in a bottle, who rocks up at a Texas Motel, owned by Tess Harper. When he emerges from his cabin two days later, fresh from a drunken stupor, he realises that the friend who came with him has left him there with no money, and with a bill to pay. This is the story of how earning his keep at the Motel gives him the chance to earn some self respect, and to receive acceptance. His relationship with Harper's son, Sonny (Allan J. Hubbard) is an allegory for him being forgiven past mistakes, as it seems that he is the judge of this man's worthiness. Wonderfully evocative of an old country world. Robert Duvall is a revelation as a singer, and Betty Buckley is a vocal powerhouse as Mack's ex-wife. Take the time to relax with this film.