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.

I'm not a County & Western fan, have never been to Texas (ok, drove through it a few times) and usually keep away from "Westerns." But this is sheer poetry---bound to touch the heart and soul of anyone who has them. Robert DuVall and Horton Foote meet in the land of deep humanity and this classic is the result. The rest of the cast is just as good; there's not a false note anywhere. The director, although Australian, did this very well. There's a nice extra feature that adds a lot to the appreciation of the film. As DuVall says, this is about basic human values...."corny?" maybe to some, but fortunately there are enough people around who still can appreciate them. Go see--you'll be glad you did!

This is a movie with a lot of "dignity." It has such realistic people, it kept me fascinated because it seemed so different from most films I've watched.

There aren't a lot of dramatic things that happen in the story yet, as a whole, it's a wonderful tale that stays with you. It's a lot more than just seeing an Oscar-winning performance by Robert Duvall as Texan and former C&W singer and writer, "Mac Sledge." It's simply good storytelling I can't say I am a fan of Duvall's country singing, but that is the only thing I didn't like. Well, maybe "Dixie" (Betty Buckley), who played a bitter ex-wife of Duvall's in here. She was not pleasant, but others were really nice, likable people. Yet, this is not some sappy movie just because most of the people are good folks.

As in film noirs in which the viewer has a sense of dread, knowing something bad is around the corner, I felt the same thing in this film, even though it didn't necessarily happen. I mean with the main characters: Mac, Rosa Lee and Sonny. There was underlying tension, probably because of Sledge's alcoholic and violent past, that made me fear that any minute he was going to ruin the nice setup he had with a good woman and nice stepson.

Duvall, as usual, makes his role a fascinating and unpredictable one. With many of the people he has played over the years, you never am sure what his characters are going to do next. Tess Harper, as Mac's new wife, and Alan Hubbard, as her son, are two of the most realistic characters I've ever seen on film. It helped they were from the area so their accents were real.

This is a just straight drama, with a solid screenplay by Horton Foote and direction by Bruce Beresford ("Driving Miss Daisy"). In addition, actors Buckley (who can sing, too), Wilford Brimley and Ellen Barkin all give memorable supporting performances. It was an interesting tale of something I have rarely seen on film in the past 50 years: a good Christian woman lifting up a man to her level. She never had to do it verbally, never nagged or preached to the man, just set example of how to act and be a loving, supportive spouse. There is a lesson for people here with how well "Rosa Lee" handled situations. Nice.....very nice.

Didn't care much for the plot. I think Duvall was sort of mis-cast in that kind of movie but obviously I am far from being an authority on the subject

Robert Duvall just breaks your heart in this wonderful, low-keyed film about a recovering alcoholic who was once a country-western star. The gentleness of Horton Foote's story, set in Texas in the aftermath of Vietnam, makes it seem like it came from some other Hollywood than the one that turns out the noisy, special-effects belabored product that fills today's movie screens. The opening scenes of the film, which set the film's tone and pace, are elliptical and spare, and while much of the story concerns writing and performing music, the soundtrack is typically quiet - like the night-time crickets we hear as the film starts. When Duvall finally fronts a local band to sing one of his songs at a bar, you hang onto the words like they come from the heart - which they do.

Make no mistake, I loved this film when I first saw it in 1983, and it brought tears to my eyes when I saw it again in 2007. It's all the family values you hear in country and western songs about simple people and rural roots, yet it's no rose-colored portrayal of lives lived without mistakes made, disappointments, or trials by fire. The film is made up of small moments that carry the weight of all that the heart bears, and they stay with you, like Duvall standing at a window and softly singing "On the Wings of a Snow White Dove." Director Bruce Beresford brings a sensibility to Horton Foote's story that makes these characters spring to life (including brief appearances by Ellen Barkin and Wilford Brimley) while placing them in a Texas prairie that is both welcoming and lonesome. I'd trade everything currently showing at the local multiplex for another film like this.

Have been looking for this movie for years and finally found it on DVD. It is a good story line with a great performance from Duvall. A good family movie.

I appreciate the gentle, dignified writing style of Horton Foote. I first experienced his unique style of writing in his Oscar-winning screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird. In that film, he confronted racial injustice, and in the end challenged our answer to the question, "What is justice?" without clunking us over the head. Robert Duvall made his big screen debut in Mockingbird.

In Tender Mercies, Foote and Duvall team up again, and both men win Oscars. This time Foote takes us on the journey of a famous country singer/songwriter, Mac Sledge (Duvall), down on his luck due to years of alcohol abuse. Broke, and with a motel room to pay for when a friend skips out, Mac experiences the tender mercies of the kindly innkeeper, Rosa Lee (Tess Harper in her big screen debut). Again, Foote doesn't clunk us over the head with overt displays of affection, but this is a love story nonetheless, and a good one.

Alcoholisim, loss of a daughter to a senseless traffic accident, sense of failure in a relationship, but life still goes on. In this case to a happy ending.

I happened to catch this movie on cable one evening...and decided to buy the CD. What a treasure!

A friend loaned me their DVD of this movie earlier this year. I'd never seen it. I enjoyed it so much, that I had to purchase it myself. The bonus footage of the up to date interviews with the stars of the movie adds so much meaning to the movie -it is so well done. Every actor/actress in this movie did such a great job in portraying their characters and making them so believable.
I HIGHLY recommend this movie if you like a movie with quality actors, meaning, & real life situations.

Robert Duvall and a superd cast of actors bring Texan, Horton Foote's western "passion play" to life in a sensitive protrayal of private lives and the demons that often accompany success in the country-western music arena. Duval plays Max Sledge a legendary CW singer-song writer and hit bottom alcoholic who decides to leave the music for a painful dry out recovery and start-over life. A stark Caravagio potrayal of painfully poor choices and ripple effect consequences in the life journey of author Horton Foote's characters. Excellence in characterization and portrayal, entertaining and thought provoking.

Been looking for a copy of this movie for our mom. She loves the story and her copy got lost.

The good thing about this movie is that it didn't last more than it did. Not that it's bad, no, it's a fine depressing movie. It may be very well acted -Duvall is great all right-, with nice songs perhaps, well directed if you like... But unless you feel identified with these characters -and I don't- there's no way you can enjoy watching this.

This is what I saw: All the characters here are self-centered individuals, conceited, self-pitying, deplorable and depressing. Duvall plays a drunk who quits drinking to start (perhaps) a new life. That he in the past was a sucessful country singer makes no difference to me, it just adds to his self-pity. I couldn't find anything positive in this story. Even the kids that show are aggravating with their persistent questions.

The picture we have here is that of a bunch of losers and dreamers. Everybody seems to blame someone else for his miseries. The children their parents, the wives their ex-husbands (& viceversa). Death, either thru war or car accidents, plays a major role too. It seems people have trouble getting over it, looking for someone to blame it on. Then the scenes in the church... I'm not sure what they are intended for. The three main characters (Duvall, Harper and the kid) go to church; him and the kid even get baptized, but they have no idea what church is all about; to them it's a social ritual (a tradition, a superstition?). This is not a movie about faith. It's about the troubles of these guys; the lady needs a man because she's young and lonely; the man needs... he needs to grow up; the kid needs a father and some homework. Nobody cares for others, only for themselves.

Honestly, the irony about this movie is that it's so realistic and its characters so phony. I understand why Duvall went immediately to make 'The Apostle', where he plays a role opposite to this one.

This is an outstanding performance by Robert Duvall, and he deserved the Oscar for it. I would recommend the film without hesitation. A very true portrait of an ex country singer on the way back up.

I LOVED THIS MOVIE. I SAW IT WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT AND IT WAS SUCH A GOOD FEELING MOVIE. I NEVER FORGOT IT AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT I NOW HAVE IT FOR MY OWN.

a great movie. robert duvall plays a great part as usual. movie has great songs as well.i have watched it six times already.movie shows how life really is.

I love to see Robert Duvall---he is such a wonderful actor. and Tesh Harper--great actress---I did want to find the soundtrack of songs that were in Tender Mercies--where can I find all those wonderful songs?

Excellent movie, Mr. Duvall did his own singing in the film an love the song Over you that was played in it.

We rented this film several years ago and fell in love with it. Duvall gives his usual nuanced performance, with wonderful support from Tess Harper and the young boy who portrays her son.

One Sunday recently, this film was on one of the all movie channels. After seeing it for the second time, we realized that our grandson, who loves bluegrass music, would appreciate the story.

We bought the DVD for him to take to college to share with his roommates. It is a classic, beautifully realized story.

This would have to be one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen. Robert Duvall plays Mac who is a "Burned Out" country singer (note the Hollywood cliche). Mac wanders around in the movie in a type of daze as if "the mean Repo man he up and took away his pickup truck and his wife she left him for his best friend and the whiskey jug is his nemesis and his dawg he up and died".One cannot help but wonder if Mac could use a prescribed course of Prozac to cheer him up.I give this movie 5 stars because I like Tess Harper although why she would put up with a guy who acts like his favourite toy was stolen is beyond me.It seems like many reviewers of this movie consider a movie to be "exquisite" and "captivating" if it is about some old drunk who is seeking so called 'Redemption". I think Mac should enrol in a 12 step program or appear on Dr. Phil or Oprah.

Excellent film. Wonderful acting. Outstanding script about grace and redemption. One of my all time favorites.

Tender Mercies from 1983 has spawned some knockoffs, made for TV films that you see on the Country Cable station. TM is still one of the best portrayals of poor Texas brush folks on flat, flat terrain. Sometimes tumbleweed tumbles by. Anyhow, one looks at that big sky and a country song comes to your lips. Robert Duvall plays Mac Sledge stoically in tight blue jeans and cowboy boots. Duvall slips off the Godfather set and takes that Texas accent where men sort of mumble homily's at a moments notice. Ah, he can't sing, but he gets a nice voiceover during a honky tonk gig.

So former country star Duval has fallen hard, but ends up at a rural Austin motel to take up with Tess Harper, a widow of the Vietnam War. Her young son needs a father. The ready made family makes do with gas station revenue while Duval dries out. Local citizens, boys in a garage band lure the has-been songwriter back into the music business. Former wife Trixie still hates his drunken ways and won't let Mac connect with his young daughter, teen Ellen Barker. After that, there's a tragedy.

I watched TM with a teen daughter and we enjoyed it. We're not talking Fellini or Welles here, but it kept me interested.

A genuine sleeper! Robert Duvall's performance is impeccable as Mac. A great supporting cast. A small classic. Genuine "Must See"

This is the movie that he won his FIRST academy award for filmed in Seven Points Texas where he got to sing for the first time in his career at Cedar Creek Plowboys Club owned by Reba Anderson. This movie has a lot of meaning behind it and its a real cowboy type movie where he is down on his luck...divorce...coping with day to day from alcohol. Its a GREAT A++++ Movie...

A movie so low-key that it seems at times as empty as the Texas landscape it's filmed on. Robert Duvall is Mac Sledge, a down-and-out country singer who spends two drunken nights in a rundown motel on the Texas prairie, and then stays on and eventually marries the owner (Tess Harper). The story is told in fast cuts, in bits and pieces, with so much left out that even the characters don't know each other. There is something effective about it, though, at least on the surface, especially Duvall's quiet performance, that makes it enjoyable. The scene where Duvall's estranged daughter (played by Ellen Barkin) visits him and asks him to sing a song he used to sing to her as a little girl and he tells her he doesn't remember it, but as soon as she leaves he sings it to himself, is heartbreaking. And at the end Harper has that unsure look on her face, as she watches Duvall and her son (Allan Hubbard) toss a football around, indicating she knows anything still might happen in their relationship. A great little movie written by Horton Foote. Definitely worth a watch.

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".)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Mercies. Both films deal with the similar theme of redemption, of getting a second chance in life, but The Apostle hits you much harder. In that film, Duvall takes you on a rollercoaster ride from hell to heaven. Tender Mercies does not. It takes a quieter road and this doesn't always help it. As one reviewer said, it has a 'laconic sparseness,' much like its high plains backdrop. And sometimes this skeleton would have done better with a bit more meat on its bones.

Duvall can't be faulted though. His performance as Mac Sledge, down and out ex-country legend, tormented by alcohol and the debris of divorce, is first class. Mac is taut and restrained. None of the explosive volatility of Sonny from the Apostle. By holding back, Duvall can still say everything and does, but I would have liked to have seen more tears, more rages.

Having hit rock bottom in some podunk Texas motel room, salvation arrives in the form of Tess Harper's character. A Vietnam widow, she eeks out a living for herself and for her son by managing a rundown motel. She decides to give her boozy tenant a chance to start over in life. Seeing what he was and what he could still be, her faith in Mac inspires him to change.

The only problem is that Tess's character doesn't really work. She doesn't have any depth. We never know why she opens her heart to this stranger. Ok, love...but their relationship is pretty passionless. At least from her side. With her simple wholesomeness and quiet piety, she seems a mere foil to Mac's worn-out worldliness.

The characters of Mac's ex and daughter are far more fleshed out. And better acted as well. Mac's ex seethes with the bitterness of their divorce and thus gives the film a jolt of life with her high strung antics. Jealous of Mac both professionally and personally, she can't accept his new life, his new happiness. Their daughter, played by Ellen Barkin, is the surprise of the film. Without a doubt, the best female character of the film, she subtly plays out the pains of a girl in search of her daddy. Whom she nevers really finds. Again, the complexities of the father-daughter relationship are poignantly hinted at, but taken no further.....

As is the spiritual change that inspires Mac to become baptized in the local church. What's the motivation behind it? Merely love for Tess's character or did he himself feel the need for it? Unexplored territory. Such unanswered questions often times increase the suspense of things, but here, too little was just too little.

The ending though makes up for these grey areas. Tragedy stikes as one door of life is closed and another opens. Mac dies to his past so he can start again. But at a tremendous cost. With the ending, Beresford does a truly masterful job of mixing pain with hope, as the ultimate message of the film is revealed. The Lord does indeed shower us with His 'tender mercies.' As He taketh, He giveth.

Tender Mercies, despite its flaws, is indeed a powerful story. Well worth the watch and for Duvall fans, a must. A taste treat, it gives a hint of even better things to come.

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.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

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 tenderness.

The movie is not declaratory in any way and (in my opinion) succeeds in showing the other (unseen) face of America. Not the America of stars, businessmen, presidents, billionaires or fight-for-freedom heroes, but the America of "small", "regular" people.

By no means a purposely patriotic film, this movie probably can stir up more simpathy to this nation than most of Vietnam War or WWII super-trumpeted and super-expensive productions.

The interviews added as bonus on the DVD are equally rewarding. I was personally charmed by the tranquil appearance of talented screen-player Horton Foote.

Definitely a DVD to have in everyone's collection.

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 young widow (Tess Harper) and her son. This is not the typical Hollywood movie. In fact, this isn't even the typical Hollywood drama. The film feels like a very personal piece of moviemaking, as though it is a documentary brilliantly edited together to tell a simple, yet profound and moving story. Until THE APOSTLE, this was Duvall's best work and illustrated the true greatness of his acting talent. The screenplay won an Academy Award for the great Horton Foote and it doesn't take a genius to see why. Life truly is beautiful and God's mercies are tender.

This is a film that just draws you in despite any objections to the subject matter or the speed of the plot. You just want to know more about Mac's life as the story moves along and you cheer at his transformation and relate to his struggles. A fine film.