Tender Mercies (1983)

A nominee for Best Picture of 1983, Tender Mercies follows the life of a country singer whose career has seen better days. After spending too many nights as a drunk, ruining his career in the process, Mac Sledge falls in love with a widow who owns a store and gas station in the middle of nowhere. She helps him to achieve sobriety, and he befriends her young son. They form a new family, and Mac slowly begins to rebuild his life. He even takes a few tentative steps toward returning to singing the country music that he loves.

This is a quiet, understated film. Not a great deal happens in it, just the day-to-day lives of people who struggle and sometimes fail but persevere nonetheless. It sounds almost like a cliche when I describe the movie in that way, but its simplicity is really the key to its success. Watching Mac slowly find his way again is like watching a small miracle take place. The lead performance of Robert Duvall, who deservedly won the Oscar for Best Actor, is a revelation. With the tiniest of gestures and with relatively little dialogue, Duvall manages to embody this singer's life in the most human and realistic way. You get the sense that you are watching an actual person's life being depicted on the screen.

The rest of the cast is good too. Tess Harper is a strong and stable force as Mac's new wife. She's the kind of person you'd want to stand beside you as you struggle to make things right again in your life. Betty Buckley plays Mac's ex-wife who has gone on to have a successful singing career of her own, and she's terrific at showing just how damaged she has been by Mac's behavior in the past. You can understand why she's not ready to trust him again. A very young Ellen Barkin appears briefly as Mac's grown daughter, and Wilford Brimly is his usual gruff but reliable self as Buckley's manager. And kudos to Allan Hubbard, who plays Sonny, Mac's stepson. His scenes with Duvall are very tender; there's a clear bond displayed between them. I love the scene where they're throwing a football around in the field across from the store; it's a moment of genuine emotion. Surprisingly, Hubbard apparently never acted again after this movie; it was his only role in film.

I must say that I also really enjoyed the scenes of the up-and-coming band that Mac starts to guide. When these young men first show up to meet the "great" Mac Sledge, Harper is reluctant to let them in, fearing that her husband will revert to his old ways too easily. However, they're so earnest and seemingly honest in their respect for him that she eventually relents. Through Mac's help and with his occasional lead vocals (Duvall is a passable singer too), the band starts to make a name for itself. You can see how enticing performing is when you watch these young men play music. What a nice contrast to have them at the start of their career matched with someone who's already had a career and knows some of what's in store.