Tender Mercies - B+

On DVD (1983). Rated PG-13, 89 minutes. Trailer.

"I don't trust happiness. I never did, I never will." As a major fan of living legend Robert Duvall, I felt compelled to watch his Oscar winning performance in Tender Mercies. The film is like the grandfather of Crazy Heart. Duvall is Mack Sledge, a washed up country music singer that finds a place in the world at a filling station in Texas. After waking up from a 2 day drunk, he stays with a woman and her son to work off the price of the room and ends up staying a long time and marrying the woman. His past catches up with him when a reporter finds him and writes a story, igniting his interest in his long abandoned daughter (a very young Ellen Barkin) and his pained ex-wife. Click below for more on TM:


Duvall tentatively reaches back to his new world, but his interactions drive him to the brink of his sobriety and his new idyllic and simple life. He writes songs and slowly connects with his new son, only finding pain with his old life.

Written by Horton Foote, the film won Oscars for best screenplay and best actor. I should've watched it before Crazy Heart, its natural progeny. Duvall's understated and soulful performance is very good and different than his usual bombast or humor. He wears his character's years throughout the film and creates a truly resonant character.