Tender Mercies, 1983

To me, this is a perfect movie. It's why they invented movie cameras. From the great Horton Foote, it's about a drunk named Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall) who wakes up broke one morning at a remote motel in Texas unable to pay his bill. He offers to work it off for the owner, a war widow played by Tess Harper, and he eventually stays on with her and her young son. At first we're not sure whether we can trust this guy or not - he doesn't say very much - and as an alcoholic I suspect he's not sure he can be trusted either. The story unfolds with economy as Mac Sledge attempts to rebuild his life with this honest pretty woman and we eventually learn more about him and his past. That's the story but it's impossible for me to convey how emotionally affecting this movie is. It feels like life, with a soft pulse. It's very well written. Toward the end there is a quiet scene where Duvall haltingly talks about a recent personal tragedy and his feelings about it. It's the single saddest thing I've ever seen in a movie, and so true to his character that it makes me tear up just thinking about it. This movie earns the emotions it wrings out of you and it does so without histrionics. There is nothing "Hollywood" about it. Complex things like love, loss and faith are deal with simply, but also with subtlety. These people are scarred up but they carry on. It's about emotions, not neuroses. It deals with addiction and the tender mercies we all need, and what it's like to get through this life. Horton Foote wrote something sublime here and Robert Duvall's performance is the best I've ever seen. He should have received a special double-headed Oscar for it. I first seen this when I was 19 years old and I loved it despite being an immature knucklehead. I love it more now at 44 and I imagine when I'm 80, spitting up all over myself, wearing a diaper, I'll love it even more. I'll just play it in a loop. This is my favorite movie and I can't recommend it more highly.

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