Review of Tender Mercies (1983) by Jeff B — 31 May 2007

I was actually very surprised by it. I really didn't know what it was about, just that Robert Duvall was a country singer, so watching it I was surprised by how calm and controlled it was. When the film opens, Tess Harper and Allan Hubbard see Robert Duvall drunk in the motel. Most films would take advantage of a moment like this and have the character show how drunk he is by having him violent or over the top, instead the film keeps it at a distance. And they never use alchoholism as a main problem for his character. Sure, it's a key factor in his backstory, but it's never a problem he has to overcome in the film.

Rober Duvall gave a very good performance, I don't mind that he won the Best Actor Oscar. There was a moment in the film when his daughter comes to see him and she asks him about a song he used to sing to her when she was young. The film doesn't create the obvious emotional turn we expect, but instead it goes a different route and makes the scene even more powerful, it's a very wonderful scene that has a lot of meaning to it.

Right after watching it, I was wondering why it won Best Original Screenplay, but now I don't really have a problem with it winning. Original doesn't always mean it has to be clever and new and fresh. The film was filled with many moments like the scenes I mentioned, that it was a very well written film that took a simple, normal story and make it complex and powerful, whether using little dialogue or leaving a lot of questions open for the viewer to answer.