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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Republic Pictures
Salesrank: 93744
Released: June 22, 1999 |
| Our Price: $24.95 |
| Used Price: $13.96 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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
Tender Mercies Reviews:
2nd time 
2009-10-24 - I don't know how I missed this movie when it first came out, but it was such a surprise to me when I finally watched it. Not being a fan of country music may have made me hesitant, but enjoyed this movie the first time I watched it (through Netflix on my computer) and ordered a DVD for my home collection and one for my sister so we could watch it together and she could take one home with her. Every time I have watched it I like it better. This movie has launched several of us into long discussions of "what makes a successful life". Wonderful movie that hasn't become dated with time.
Wonderful!
2008-05-02 - This is a film where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. It is well written, cast, acted and directed, yet the overall final product is one of the best "quiet" films ever. I'm not a country music fan, but the music is perfectly in context with the story and one compliments the other extremely well. This may be Robert Duvall's finest work. I think if it came out in 2008 it would contend for Best Picture honors.
Tender Mercies
2007-11-11 - So often the Academy Awards get it wrong. When the Academy gave Duvall Best Actor for portraying former country singer Max Sledge and Horton Foote Best Screenplay, they got it right. Though, Bruce Beresford should have gotten Best Director as well.
This is a quiet, gentle film. But it's powerful emotions build and linger. It is a story of redemption, marveling at grace and yet also puzzling over grace withheld.
Hollywood rarely turns the cameras on the red states and even more rarely on Evangelical Christians and even more rarely does so with compassion and understanding. (One of the few other films that does these things well also stars Robert Duvall, "The Apostle", which Duvall also wrote and directed.)
Tess Harper is also very good in the film as the woman who takes in a lost, lonely man. Look for Ellen Barkin, so young that it takes time to recognize her as Sledge's daughter.
Wonderful film.
Wonderful Duval
2007-10-25 - This is the type of movie you don't see everyday but when you do, consider it a blessing. Just wonderful work by Robert and everybody else for that matter. I saw it on cable and decided I will have to own the DVD. Just wonderful.
Western Lover 
2007-09-29 - A very enjoyable off beat modern western style movie, Robert Duval gives a great perforformance as a fallen Country and Western singer with an obvious chip on his shoulder who has no desire to claim the spotlight again. He meets and falls in love with a hard working widower (Tess Harper)who has a young son (Wilford Brimley), unfortunately he has a lot of past baggage that he's finding it very hard to deal with. The movie has a good story line that really absorbs the viewer showing that life can be a sad leveler at times. The soundtrack is quite interesting if you're a country music fan. Definitely worth a prominent spot in your Dvd collection.
