Wonderful character development!

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Reduced to a life of drunkenness, a former famous country singer finds the inspiration to turn his life around after befriending a lonely widow who works an outskirts gas station in this Horton Foote scripted drama that won Robert Duvall his only ever Oscar. Always reliable when given the right character to play, Duvall is excellent throughout and the film benefits from a memorable, emotionally charged theme song that was also nominated for an Oscar. The overall film though is never quite as compelling as Duvall's performance. While the script offers memorable dialogue ("I don't trust happiness"), it provides little in the way of plot complications for Duvall's character to overcome. Initially, a nosey reporter and a bunch of country music fans who track Duvall down seem like they might tear at old wounds, but on the contrary, they only help him to further improve. Admittedly a surprise off-screen death offers a little jolt, but in general, 'Tender Mercies' offers such an upbeat tale, done in such high spirits that it is hard to take it as anything down-to-earth or realistic. Quitting alcohol proves no challenge to Duvall; same goes for rejoining the music scene - and thus his character never really feels like he has that much to go through. As mentioned though, Duvall is superb, and in fact the entire supporting cast - especially Allan Hubbard as a surrogate son - deliver well. The film also makes country living under wide open skies look very attractive. Its positive reputation is certainly understandable, but one's mileage with 'Tender Mercies' may vary.

Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall) is an alcoholic washed up country singer. He can't pay his motel bill and starts working for the widowed owner Rosa Lee (Tess Harper) who is raising her son Sonny. He turns his life around and they get marry. His new life is interrupted when a reporter drops by. His ex-wife Dixie Scott is a country music star and she's performing nearby. His story is printed in the newspaper. He goes to her concert and sees her manager Harry (Wilford Brimley). She angrily warns him not to see their daughter Sue Anne (Ellen Barkin).It's a powerful performance from Robert Duvall. That's the heart of the movie. He puts all of his skills to work. He's great when he's quiet. He's explosive when he needs to be. The camera work and the style could do more to add more substance to the material. It's a great showcase for Duvall and Tess Harper also gives a good performance.

"Solemnity, purposeless, inert solemnity" damns poet Mary Oliver. "Tender Mercies" shows the complexity behind the stoic stare and the empty country road, shows the warmth and reassurance of a seemingly simpler life. A man has to stare down the ugly parts of his past and prove he doesn't trust happiness at the same time he must have the courage to quietly welcome it back into his life. Surprises abound (and plenty of pleasantly bold ones in the angles of the camera), but sometimes the most surprising turn is the straightest road. The honest road that connects to the audience. Scriptwriters and actors take note - rarely has a movie said more with less than "Tender Mercies."

A gentle quiet film, wonderfully written by Horton Foote, and featuring a magnificent performance by Robert Duvall as an alcoholic ex-country singer star, who rediscovers himself by finding a family. Ordinarily this kind of upbeat view could be treacly, or seem like a Hollywood simplification. But here it's simultaneously rich and sparse, and even in a world where life is ultimately good, there are still tragedies big and small, broken hearts and terrible losses. This is that rare 'feel good' film that earns the right. The supporting work by Tess Harper and Betty Buckley is worth mentioning as well, as is Bruce Beresford's understated but always effective and evocative direction.But ultimately it's Foote's screenplay, set in a world where predictability and cliché are the usual, that manages to pull off the almost impossible and create something unique, tender, and new.