1983 | PG | 1h 32m | Drama, Music
The world of moving pictures is a vast one, but it’s not always that deep. When you’ve watched thousands of films, even some of the very good to great ones can get lost in the eddies of time and fading memories.
However, there are some gems out there that I can easily count on in terms of being so memorable that they stay with me. Watching them again is akin to picking up a bike for the first time in many years and feeling almost as familiar with it as the last time you rode one, gleefully peddling down the street as a light breeze brushes against your face.
Produced in 1983 and helmed by Aussie director Bruce Beresford, “Tender Mercies” is one of those films so understated that it slips under many a radar. And yet it’s a movie that I’ll always refer to when people ask me about my favorites. It’s simply told yet gracefully nuanced, with powerful scenes between superb actors so realistic that incidents like the scenes could happen right next door. Well, maybe not next door in this case.
You see, the tale begins at a shabby Texas roadside motel with an attached gas station, or is it the other way around? Anyway, it’s located smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but dusty winds blowing tumbleweeds across parched prairies, under wide blue skies.
A fight is going down in one of the run-down rooms over the last swig of liquor. One of the men, has-been country star Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall), ends up on the losing side of the battle for the bottle and is tossed to the floor. (Talk about falling on hard times!)
All of this hullabaloo has woken up the proprietor of the establishment, widower Rosa Lee (Tess Harper), and her young son, Sonny (Allan Hubbard). Not wanting to get involved, mother and son let the tattered screen door shut behind them as they disappear back into the darkness of the motel’s environs.
Mac wakes up just where he was put down, face down in the middle of the ransacked motel room, complete with empty beer cans, liquor bottles, and stains of who-knows-what on the carpet. He stumbles outside and meets Rosa, who informs him that he’s been in the room (basically unconscious) for two days.
“Lady, I’m broke. I’d be glad to work off what I owe you,” Mac says to Rosa. Thus, he starts a slow, inward drifting orbit, first around the motel (having the integrity to work off his past-due rent), and then gradually descending into Rosa’s titular tender mercies.
Soon, Rosa invites Mac in to eat with her and her son at the kitchen table. A few days later, she invites him to her local church, where she sings in the choir. As Mac sings the beautiful Christian hymn “Jesus Saves” with little Sonny at his side, everything looks to be going in the right direction, and romance may be on the horizon. But this is all within the first act of the movie; there’s plenty of time for things to go askew.
After watching this film for the umpteenth time, I once again realize that I never tire of watching its subtle, brilliant cinematography. Whether it be long shots of the natural world captured in a way that lingers as if not wanting to end our view of such simple splendors, or patiently capturing the moments of human emotion exchanged between the principal characters, this is truly filmmaking at its finest.
Although it also has many faith-based elements, it’s relatable to anyone who has struggled in his or her life. As Rosa gradually begins to help Mac heal his broken spirit in the safe, almost convalescent-like environs of the motel, their journey is a very universal one of shared humanity.
Another thing I enjoy about this film is that it doesn’t rely on gushing torrents of dialogue to move its simple-yet-nuanced story along. Rather, everything is edged ever gently forward through low-key acting performances that say more with people’s posturing and expressions than with words. This sort of minimalist approach has aged even better when compared to modern cinema filled with callous, empty sound and fury.
If you’re looking for an inspiring movie that has an unusual sense of authenticity, heartfelt drama, and a good splash of romance, you can do no better than “Tender Mercies.”
As one of the Psalms goes: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
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