Tender Mercies is a 1983 American drama film directed by Bruce Beresford, featuring Robert Duvall as singer-songwriter Mac Sledge in a performance that won him an Academy Award. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Horton Foote focuses on Mac Sledge (Duvall), a former country music star whose career and relationship with his ex-wife and daughter were wrecked by alcoholism. Recovering from his affliction, Sledge seeks to turn his life around through his relationship with a young widow and her son in rural Texas. The supporting cast includes Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley, Ellen Barkin and Allan Hubbard.

Plot

Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall), a washed-up, alcoholic country singer, awakens at a run-down Texas roadside motel and gas station after a night of heavy drinking. He meets the owner, a young widow named Rosa Lee (Tess Harper), and offers to perform maintenance work at the motel in exchange for a room. Rosa, whose husband was killed in the Vietnam War, is raising her young son, Sonny (Allan Hubbard), on her own. She agrees to let Mac stay on condition that he does not drink while working. The two begin to develop feelings for each other, mostly during quiet evenings sitting alone and sharing parts of their life stories.

Awards