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Tender Mercies

Robert Duvall (Actor), Tess Harper (Actor), Wilford Brimley (Director) | Format: DVD
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Amazon.ca

Sometimes everything comes together in a movie and it becomes something so much greater than the sum of its parts that it can only be described as a miracle. That's the case with Tender Mercies, a quietly luminous character piece about an alcoholic, washed-up country singer named Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall in an Oscar-winning performance) who hits bottom in a motel room one night and then slowly finds his way back into the land of the living with the help of the widow (Tess Harper) and her young son. It's a low-key, contemplative film that feels like a rural American family comedy in the vein of the great Japanese director, Yasujiro Ozu. Tender Mercies was directed by Australian Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Breaker Morant), written by Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird), who won an Oscar for his screenplay, and has an unbeatable cast. This is one of Duvall's most intimate and deeply personal performances, matched only by his debut 14 years later as actor-writer-director in The Apostle. --Jim Emerson

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4.8 out of 5 stars
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Un beau Robert Duvall Mar 19 2013
By Luigi
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tender Mercies n'est pas un film à grand déploiement, mais est justement ce film très juste qui raconte une vie qui a pris un cours inattendu. Robert Duvall est très convaincant en chanteur country et on pénètre dans le Midwest américain avec son quotidien sans prétention. C'est savoureux.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A special film, a great Duvall performance Feb 5 2012
By K. Gordon TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
A gentle quiet film, wonderfully written by Horton Foote, and featuring a magnificent performance
by Robert Duvall as an alcoholic ex-country singer star, who rediscovers himself by finding a family.

Ordinarily this kind of upbeat view could be treacly, or seem like a Hollywood simplification. But
here it's simultaneously rich and sparse, and even in a world where life is ultimately good, there are still
tragedies big and small, broken hearts and terrible losses. This is that rare `feel good' film that
earns the right.

The supporting work by Tess Harper and Betty Buckley is worth mentioning as well, as is Bruce Beresford's
understated but always effective and evocative direction.

But ultimately it's Foote's screenplay, set in a world where predictability and cliche are the usual, that
manages to pull off the almost impossible and create something unique, tender, and new.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars SIMPLE GENIUS Feb 21 2003
By DAVID L. WOOD
Format:VHS Tape
ROBERT DUVALL WON THE BEST ACTOR OSCAR FOR HIS ROLE IN THIS LITTLE FILM AND RIGHTFULLY SO.
HORTON FOOTES SIMPLE SCRIPT ALONG WITH NORTH TEXAS FLATLANDS FRAME THIS POIGNANT TALE OF AN ON THE SKIDS ONE TIME SOMEBODY IN THE WORLD OF COUNTRY MUSIC. ENTER MAC SLEDGE, DOWN AND OUT DRUNKARD WHO CANT EVEN PAY HIS MOTEL BILL.
HE ELECTS TO WORK IT OFF AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE WIDOWED MOTHER/OWNER OF THE RAMSHAKLE ROADSIDE INN.
TESS HARPER PLAYS THE CONSERVATIVE TEMPERANT CHRISTIAN WOMAN WHO HELPS MAC FIND HIS WAY AND MARRIES HIM IN THE PROCESS.
HE SLOWLY LICKS THE BOTTLE WHILE WARRING WITH HIS EX WIFE WHO IS CURRENTLY SUCCESSFUL IN HER OWN MUSIC CAREER.
THE EX COUPLE BATTLE OVER MACS RIGHTS TO SEE HIS ESTRANGED DAUGHTER PLAYED BY ELLEN BARKIN.
MAC RECORDS A SINGLE AND BEGINS PLAYING WITH A LOCAL BAND. SLEDGE GETS SAVED AND BAPTISED AT THE SPURRING OF HIS NEW WIFE AND WE BEGIN TO SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL FOR OUR PROTAGONIST.<BR....

THIS IS NOT AN ACTION FLICK, A SCI FI FLUFF FILM OR A SLAP YOUR KNEE COMEDY. THIS IS A SIMPLE MOVIE WITH CHARACTERS AS RICH AS MILK CHOCALATE AND A STORY CRAFTED FROM QUALITY.

IT IS DOUBTFUL THIS FILM MADE MUCH MONEY AT THE BOX OFFICE. BUT THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD TELL YOU IT IS A THINKING PERSONS FILM

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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars "I don't trust happiness."
As the story opens, washed-up country singer Mac (Robert Duvall) is dead drunk in a shabby Texas motel room. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Kona
5.0 out of 5 stars QUIET PERFECTION
Box office wise, TENDER MERCIES, sounded like a pebble dropped in the ocean, but this is a cherished film among those who appreciate quiet perfection. Read more
Published on April 28 2004 by Gregory Saffady
5.0 out of 5 stars a must see!
I agree with the fact that this film was not a box-office blockbuster but it was just as well because when I saw it the theater was not filled which is the way I like it. Read more
Published on Jan 9 2004 by "2718281828"
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost...but....
It feels almost criminal not to give the obligatory five stars and effusive accolades to this film. But, expecting a prototype of The Apostle, I was a little let down by Tender... Read more
Published on July 2 2003 by B. Berthold
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully filmed movie
We saw this movie some years ago, and yearned to have it on DVD.

The film is unusually beautiful, having a special truthfulness in it, constructed with delicacy and... Read more

Published on Jan 14 2003 by FILIP Marius
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Beautiful.
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... Read more
Published on Mar 14 2002 by tvtv3
5.0 out of 5 stars As close to perfection as movies ever get.
"Tender Mercies" proves beyond doubt that Americans can make movies the way Europeans do, and still make them unmistakably American. Read more
Published on Nov 4 2001 by Miles D. Moore
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