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| Tender Mercies | 
 enlarge | Director: Bruce Beresford
Actors: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley, Ellen Barkin
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.09
You Save: $5.89 (59%)
New (33) Used (23) from $4.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  53 reviews
Sales Rank: 1726
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 100
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: ANBD11469D
UPC: 013131146998
EAN: 0013131146998
ASIN: B00005R246
Theatrical Release Date: 1983
Release Date: April 16, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Tender Mercies September 5, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This unadorned gem, beautifully realized by Australian director Beresford from a brilliant Horton Foote screenplay, is an actor's showcase, and Duvall makes the most of it, turning in a bravura performance that won him an Oscar. (Trivia note: screenwriter Foote had also done the script for Duvall's first film twenty years earlier: "To Kill A Mockingbird".)
 ONE CAN'T GO WRONG WITH HORTON FOOTE August 11, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This film won Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Robert Duvall as Max Sledge, a down-and-out country singer. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Song and Best Director. It was what is known in the movie business as a "sleeper". While not up to par with my other favorite Foote's works (the screenplay author) like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Trip to Bountiful" this movie more than holds its own. Duvall is quietly fine as a man trying to find himself again. Tess Harper as Rosa Lee, the woman he marries, is perfect in her role. The little boy who plays Sonny, Rosa Lee's son is a talented youngester. Betty Buckley gives a tour-de-force performance as Dixie, Duvall's ex wife who holds a severe grudge against him. Ellen Barkin plays Duvall's grown up daughter with touching poignancy. The film also boasts a fine musical score with traditional country music. The DVD is in widescreen, has scene selection and has a 32 minute documentary on the making of the film called "Miracles and Mercies" with interviews with Duvall, Harper and a grown up Sonny, who has become a talented guitar player in his own right. Horton Foote and the film's director are also featured. The other extras are Biographies of Duvall, Foote and the film's director. It would have been nice to have biographical snippets of Harper, Buckley, Barkin and "Sonny". At 92 minutes the film moves along with very few lulls. The only reason I don't give this film 5 stars is because this is not my favorite "Horton Foote" film. It is still a fine film and one which will disappoint no one.
Simple and touching... April 26, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This movie, while lacking a few things like BIG BUDGET and SPECIAL EFFECTS, is very satisfying to those who enjoy a realistic, human story. The first time I saw it I was relatively unmoved, but as I've gotten older and I've seen it a few more times, I had to buy it. The tale is simple enough: a practicing/recovering alcoholic country singer lands in the life of a flatland Texas family: a mother and son. There is no father around and the man finds himself filling that role while trying to recap and reconcile issues of his past. Robert Duvall is a great actor and he wrote and sang several of the songs in this movie.
Overall, this is one impressive film that I recommend.
QUIET PERFECTION April 28, 2004
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
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. The simplicity of this film is its lasting fame. But this was also Duvall's hour of glory and the Academy rightfully gave him his Best Actor Oscar (1983) in what had to be a runaway vote. Best Song nominee, "Over You" still launches my heart into my throat.
a must see! January 10, 2004
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
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. In any case, I bought the DVD and watch it over and over. Duvall's singing was a surprise, not as good as Sissy Spacek's in Coal Miner's Daughter, but good enough for a small Texas bar. Another movie that I compare this to was Murphy's Romance with Sally Field and James Garner (Garner was nominated for an Oscar, I believe, the same year as Harrison Ford in Witness and William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman.) This film has a sort of switched-roll theme on Tender Mercies with Sally Field as the down-on-her-luck woman who meets a stable, older man. Also a fantastic film as far as it's character study. See both if you can.
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