Tender Mercies

I've been thinking a lot about what makes us like stories whether they are books or movies. One crucial aspect is that one must sympathize with the main character. Tender Mercies has such a character for me. In the beginning of the film, the main character, Mac Sledge, is in a drunken riot that ends with him passed out on the floor. Can you sympathize yet? Just wait. The next day, he wakes up and finds work with a young widow who runs a motel, doing odd jobs around the grounds for her. He tells her that his drinking days are over, and then asks her to marry him. Now, it wasn't Sledge's drunken rage that held my sympathy, but it was a man with a serious addiction who was trying to overcome it that gained my attention and interest. The two get married, and during the rest of the movie, I kept watching to see if Sledge would go back to his drinking. It's a simple problem for a story, I suppose, but it held my interest for the two hours that I watched it.

The title is significant. This man is on the rocks and is able to find mercy with this widow and her ten year old son, but the tender mercies take an ironic twist at the end. At the end of the movie, I felt like I had watched something quite moving. This is a slow-moving movie. It takes place in the barren flatlands of Texas which creates a lonesome mood to the entire work.

One last note about Robert Duvall's acting. If you look at the cover of this movie, you might think hey, a movie about a young Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove. Robert Duvall has the same mustache and beard. He also sports a cowboy hat with the same shape and looks as as Gus'. Don't be deceived, however. This is not Augustus McCrae, not the same character at all. We don't have the happy-go-lucky Gus, but rather a man at the end of a long dark road. It shows that Duvall can act, playing different rolls according to the part.

Saints and Soldiers

Saints and Soldiers.

Who would have guessed it? A "Mormon Movie" with some actual artistic merit. This is well-worth an evening of your time to watch. Unlike the other films that stormed Utah's theaters after the release of God's Army, this movie actually tries to tell a story, instead just presenting a badly scripted movie, dull acting, and a two-hour sludge fest, making fun of Mormon oddities. No, Saints and Soldiers actually delivers a movie with heart and soul, namely, charaters and a story. It was quite a refreshing experience. Set during World War II, Deacon, the Latter-day Saint hero of the story, find himself behind enemy lines. It is up to he and his fellow soldiers to get secret plans back to the Allies Headquarters before the Germans launch a major offensive. This story had spectacular effects, especially considering the budget was under a million dollars. It made me think that maybe all that money in Hollywood is a bad thing, and instead of improving movies it muddles them to no more than visual spectacles with no story and no soul.

Rating 4 Stars

I Am David

I Am David

Imagine only knowing the evil and the bad in the world. Imagine being raised in a concentration camp, knowing nothing of the goodness of people, but only the bitterness at the end of a guard's rifle. Such is the life of David, a young boy, who has spent his entire life in a concentration camp in eastern Europe after World War II. Through the help of someone--you don't find out who until the end of the movie--he is able to escape the camp, and he eventually makes his way to Italy where he begins a journey to the Netherlands. David has learned to trust no one, but he has to survive the journey, but the journey reveals interesting surprises for David as he begins to discover the goodness of people.

Rating: 4 Stars