Tender Mercies (1983) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P_Rs0RkYD4

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

They say second chances are hard to achieve. So when you do, make it count.


PLOT


1983’s Tender Mercies follows country singer Mac Sledge, who became a washed up alcoholic after breaking up with his ex wife Daisy Scott, who is also a performer. Not seeing his daughter Sue Anne in years, he finds himself in a roadside motel/gas station after a night of heavy drinking. The place is ran by widowed Rosa Lee who lost her husband in the Vietnam war and only lives with her son Sonny. Mac meets Rosa Lee and offers to performance maintenance work in exchange for a room. She agrees under the condition he doesn’t drink while working. The longer he stays, he gives up alcohol and grows attached with Rosa Lee to the point of taking her hand in marriage. They would go to church together weekly as a newly wedded couple and continue making his rounds with the motel/station. He later meets a reporter who wants to interview after already reporting Daisy, who is in the area performing nearby. When her interview gets published, a local band meets him as well to show their respect. Mac ends up seeing Daisy’s show where she performs songs he writes and he first sees her manager, his old friend Harry (Wilford Brimley), who he gives a new song for Dixie to have. He then see his ex who is still angry with him, still refusing to let him see his daughter. Mac does tell Rosa Lee what happened when he comes home, but assures her that he doesn’t love her anymore. Harry does visit him to tell him that his new song is no good since the music industry is changing. This does upset him and makes him want to relapse, but he pours away the bottle of whiskey rather than drink it, as he would tell Rosa Lee. After he and Sonny get baptized, Sue Anne reaches out to him, against her mother’s wishes, for the first time since she was a baby. She had been wanting to meet him for so long since his letters were kept from her and is now eloping despite the past objections of her mom. He is honest throughout this counter where he admits his alcoholism led to him being aggressive towards Daisy to the point where he almost killed her, hence the divorce. When going out with his family, Sonny is asked by another kid what happened to his dad, which he only replies he doesn’t know how he died exactly since his mom never gave him any details. After Mac agrees to work with a band, he would be stunned to hear Sue Anne died in a car accident with her boyfriend. Following the funeral would he find Dixie bedridden in grief and when returning home does he question why his sorry existence goes on while his daughter dies so young. When returning home from school, Sonny would ask his mom what really happened to his dad. Rosa Lee honeslty explains she’s not sure because his body was only found with no clarification if he was killed in battle or caught by a sniper while walking. The film would end with Sonny playing catch with his stepdad, using the football he gifted him with.


THOUGHTS


It is pretty crazy when you have favorite decade of cinema and then you realize thousands of movies are in a single decade. That was my realization with the 80s because I couldn’t believe how much I haven’t seen as a late 90s baby. This was one of those movies you hear about and aren’t sure if you’ll enjoy it until make the time for it. From what I got to saw, this is one of those dramas that strike you when you least expect it. Russell Boyd’s cinematography hit me like a truck because just the simple moments of Mac getting through life as quiet as he could really put in that feeling on how much of a beauty the world in search of solace. Simply put, this one stands out from the rest because it’s a moving tale that says people can seek redemption by taking responsibility via letting go of the bad habits you don’t want to be remembered for. If you don’t bother trying, then you’ll be stuck in misery. The late Robert Duvall was a one man show in his only Oscar winning performance who not only sings his ass off in country fashion when given the chance, but plays one of the most stoic roles of his career. Mac Sledge is the kind of protagonist that knows how to be surprising because he truly takes it upon himself to change his ways and live on with content. He definitely finds that match when meeting such an equal, as Tess Harper portrays Rosa Lee as quite resilient yet soft spoken enough to meet him in the middle. They gave each other a chance for relating to the loss and chose to define each other for the good rather than the bad. She chooses to trust him throughout because she knows how bad he wants to remain improved mentally, thus not even panicking whenever he gets honest. As for Betty Buckley, she made Dixie the polar opposite due to remaining unforgiving, which makes her song ‘Over You’ all the more ironic. Sadly, her feeling of self pity rather than accept the past wasn’t her fault, becomes part of pushing her daughter away. As for Ellen Barkin, she was impressive too as Sue Anne because having been a child of separated parents, I can understand the desperation to maintain connection, which only makes her fragile enough to be reckless. Discovering her death was anticlimactically sad because it felt like meeting her dad was gonna help her stay on track like her mom wanted, but it just didn’t work that way. And it made the most sense for Mac & Dixie to be full of more inner conflict because they each felt that if anything was done differently on their end, she’d get to live longer than them. While it sucks Dixie will live her life alone, Mac has that second chance with family because he’s the only one driven to put the pain behind him. The young Allan Hubbard was a delight as Sonny because he wasn’t a kid that lived with any animosity, he just wanted an answer that can give him resolution. He was intimidated of Mac because of how toxic he started out upon first impression, but he too came around upon seeing how much he made his mom happy. And when his mom gave him an answer if what happened to his birth father, he was able to move on healthily. The ending in which he played catch with Mac put me to tears because that was a moment where it shows family is who you make it no matter how so. The fact those two became one with that first bond post baptism proved they’ll make the best of it going forward. In short, Director Bruce Beresford and Horton Foote succeed in making a moving tale of a redemption an ideal Best Picture nominee that is Tender Mercies. If you want to be moved, this movie will do it for you.

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