Some actors rarely, if ever, have a bad performance. Michael Caine is one of those; no matter how awful the material, Caine always is a bright spot. Others, though, clearly mail it in when the material is beneath them. There are plenty of examples, but a good one is Russell Crowe in Tenderness
A teenager who killed his parents as a youth, Eric (Jon Foster), is about to be released back into the general population. Keeping tabs on him is a hardened local cop (Crowe), who believes the youth to be a psychopath but can only keep track of him as he has paid his debt to society. Into the mix comes Lori (Sophie Traub), a teenager with problems of her own decides to join Eric on a road trip to visit colleges. The film follows the two as they deal with each other in only the way two damaged souls really can, with Detective Cristofuoro hot on their tail in anticipation of Eric’s darker side.
And while the relationship between Eric and Lori is implausible, but somewhat amusing in a weird way, the interesting part of the film is Crowe’s involvement. A relatively small part, barely garnering more then what could be called an extended cameo, the DVD cover and poster feature him prominently because of his A-list status. For a part as small as he has it’s interesting to see that he’s given the lion’s share of publicity; it’s also interesting because he’s not anywhere near his usual level of acting. The detective is a barely fleshed out character, given just enough motivation and good dialogue moments to warrant a star (but not of Crowe’s status), but Crowe could do this part in his sleep. And he seemingly does, half-caring towards the end after an opening scene of excellence. It’s interesting, to say the least, as Crowe (who filmed all of his scenes in slightly longer than a week) gives a spotty performance after a marvelous one earlier in the 2009 in State of Play. But even at half speed he still outshines his co-stars.
The reason for his presence being prominent is because you can’t really sell a film with leads from The Informers and Daltry Calhoun respectively; neither really distinguishes themselves, either. It’s interesting to see that the two are clearly out-classed by Crowe; interacting with one another, they seem to be a decent fit because neither does much to distinguish themselves. When Crowe’s on the screen with them it’s obvious even at nowhere near his best he’s still in a league of his own when compared to a couple of solid, if unspectacular, character actors.
Tenderness is a mediocre, paint by numbers character study with police procedural elements thrown in. It’s not a waste of 101 minutes. But it gets close to it.
In a widescreen format with a Dolby Digital surround, this is a mediocre looking transfer. This isn’t an a/v spectacular but the DVD really doesn’t push the system, either. It’s subpar.
Finding Tenderness is a six minute EPK piece that adds nothing to the film. The Theatrical Trailer is included as well.
If you’re a fan of Russell Crowe, this is worth a rental. Otherwise recommendation to avoid.
Lionsgate presents Tenderness . Directed by: John Polson. Starring: Russell Crowe, Sophie Traub, Jon Foster. Written by: Emil Stern based on the novel “Tenderness” by Robert Cormier. Running time: 101 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: 4.13.2010. Available at Amazon.com.
