Tenderness

Directed by John Polson (“Swimfan,” “Hide and Seek”), “Tenderness” was released in January, 2009, starring big-name actors like Russell Crowe and Laura Dern, but unfortunately the movie never got any attention from audiences or critics. Based on the book by Robert Cormier, “Tenderness” is a tale of a young killer whose life becomes inexorably intertwined with that of a young girl and a detective.

After having served a three-year sentence for murdering both his parents, Eric Poole (Jon Foster) is released from a juvenile detention center. A semiretired detective, Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe), who arrested him earlier for the gruesome murders, firmly believes that Eric will commit another heinous crime. Meanwhile, Eric meets a runaway teenage girl, Lori (Sophie Straub), and they embark on a road trip together. Cristofuoro’s obsession with Eric leads him to upstate New York, where he (with the help of local policemen) closely follows Eric to a remote region. Later, Lori becomes increasingly obsessed with thoughts of Eric, unaware of the danger awaiting her.

“Tenderness” is about performances from its three leads. First, the performance of Jon Forster depicting a psychopathic killer leaves lot to be desired. The movie portrays him as a dangerous criminal through-and-through. However, as seen on a couple of occasions, Eric is trying to strike a balance between his psychopathic behavior and his natural self that apparently has some humanity left. There is an emotional ambiguity between these two sides, and with the underdeveloped script, Jon Foster never seems comfortable exhibiting the duality expected from his character.

The banality of Sophie Straub’s performance as a troubled teenager makes connecting to her character difficult, too. Early on in the film, the movie presents her fears of her mother’s new boyfriend. It seems she has been abused, and later it is revealed that she was raped by him. However, the movie barely digs deeper into this issue. As a result, instead of sympathizing with her actions, there is an unbalanced craziness to her character that becomes progressively dominant in the later stages of the movie. Finally, the character of Cristofuoro played by Russell Crowe seems settled in his brief role. He adequately displays the painful and empty life he has been leading with his comatose wife. However, Crowe underplays his character as the cop, and his obsession for pursuing Eric lacks much needed intensity.

Apart from average performances, the pacing of the movie is an issue. The script lays down the foundation perfectly in the first act, but after Eric and Lori hit the road, the story comes to a grinding halt. There are a few flashback segments that delve into Eric’s past and a discussion about Lori’s past, which provide some depth to their motives. However, other than this, there are long pauses that are uninteresting and insignificant in the overall context of the story. Moreover, the climax is surely frustrating, and it does question why Lori persisted with Eric. As the film progresses, you tend to think Eric is followed by two obsessive stalkers, Lori and Cristofuoro.

On the positive side, the flashback segments along with the mother-daughter discussions early in the film provide a few emotional moments. Lori is unable to express her disapproval of her mother’s new boyfriend so as not to hurt her feelings. In a later scene, in which she and her mother are doing dishes in the kitchen, Lori gazes at her mother intensely, and it seems as though she is on the verge of speaking of the boyfriend’s abuse to her mother, but she stops herself again. Even though the depth of Lori’s pain is thin as per the script, the opening segments at least provide some background on her troubled home life.

Video:
The film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Even with its indie look, the movie appears really good in this DVD release. The opening segments are bright and vibrant, with perfectly balanced contrast. The scenery is rendered beautiful with bold greens. The print is free of any blemishes for its entire duration. Overall, this is an impressive transfer for a low-budget movie like this.

Audio:
Lionsgate include two audio options: a 5.1 Dolby Digital track and 2.0 Dolby Digital track. For this review, I played the movie in 5.1 surround sound. The movie is mostly a dialogue-driven affair, the dialogue is clear, and the soundtrack is a bit serene. The film soundtrack rarely kicks in very strongly.

Also, included is the option to play the movie with English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:
The only extra included with the disc is a short featurette, “Finding Tenderness,” in which the author talks about the book and movie. Actors present their thoughts about their roles and the challenging nature of the story.

Parting Thoughts:
“Tenderness” could have been much better had the writers invested more time in developing the characters of Cristofuoro and Eric Poole. In addition, the middle act could have benefited by a small dosage of urgency. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know if this how the characters are written. Nevertheless, the superficial soul-searching journey ends being emotionally bland.

Ratings:
Video = 7/10
Audio = 6/10
Extras = 2/10
Movie = 6/10