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Tenderness (2008)
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Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:4
Rotten:7
Average Rating:4.3/10
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for disturbing violent and sexual content, and language.
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 11, 2009 Limited
Synopsis:
Eric Komenko is a charming, attractive high school student with devout, domineering parents. Following an angry outburst from his mother upon her discovery of his promiscuity, Eric maliciously and...
Eric Komenko is a charming, attractive high school student with devout, domineering parents. Following an angry outburst from his mother upon her discovery of his promiscuity, Eric maliciously and violently murders both his mother and father.
Years later, Lori Cranston, an attractive and audacious young girl who has silently suffered years of sexual abuse from her mother’s revolving door of boyfriends, becomes mesmerized by Eric’s story. Undeterred by Eric’s murderous impulses, Lori flees her mother’s house to find him.
However, while Lori is attracted to Eric’s sinister mentality, Lt. Cristofuoro, the officer assigned to Eric’s case, is not convinced he won’t kill again. Cristofuoro goes after him, conflicted about his desire to help Eric – whom he knows has suffered tremendously – and, his knowledge of the latter’s appetite for killing young women.
While driving towards Syracuse to find a girl (WHAT’S HER NAME?) whom he met in juvenile detention, Eric is shocked to find Lori hiding in his trunk. Suspicious of Lori, annoyed by her juvenile crush and paranoid that she saw him murder his girlfriend years prior, Eric is outwardly harsh and cruel towards her. Throughout their long voyage together, Lori becomes increasingly enamored by Eric, despite his cruel behavior and a failed attempt to kill her.
As Cristofuoro draws closer to the pair, Lori resigns to her fate. Yet, despite Eric’s calculated plan to kill her, and her complete acquiescence, Eric is unable to do so. Although upset with himself for succumbing to “soft” emotions, he leaves to meet the girl from juvenile detention, unaware that she is working with the police to set him up.
Lori learns about the trap and, after alerting Eric, she leaves with him, despite Cristofuoro’s concern she will not come out alive.
--© Lionsgate
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Starring: Russell Crowe, Jon Foster, Sophie Traub, Laura Dern
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jon Foster, Sophie Traub, Laura Dern
Director: John Polson
Director: John Polson
Screenwriter: Emil Stern
Producer: Charles Randolph, Howard Meltzer
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Tenderness
Crowe's lumbering presence is a relief from all the gothic heaviness, but director John Polson's elliptical storytelling style quickly becomes an irritant.
A movie undone by its formulaic plot conventions, and its need to give its star more screen time than his characters merits.
Crowe, who spends the movie trudging along ... and waxing lyrical about pain and pleasure, must be hoping no one sees this mawkish blunder. He will probably get his wish.
Polson maintains an unsettling tension throughout the narrative, building his slow-burn thriller to a climax that deliberately runs counter to the in-your-face genre principles of which he proved such a master with his first two thriller outings.
Since moving to Hollywood, Australian director John Polson has become a very competent filmmaker. I hope he finds better scripts for his future projects.
It's hard to understand what keeps these characters moving, and without true indie grit or the runaway tension that would otherwise satisfy the multiplex, Tenderness drops somewhere in-between...and that is mostly a disappointing nowhere.
Cormier himself called Tenderness a tough book written in "a minor key" and perhaps Polson was inspired by the description. But if so, he doesn't come close.
It does have a few plot contrivances, but the tension is skilfully built and the cast is uniformly excellent.
This is a fascinating study, but the adaptation struggles to get the story across with as much punch as it might. On the other hand, John Polson shows a lucid eye for the genre
The mood that Polson creates is a little like walking into a thick mist and finding yourself lost in the fog. Perhaps we get a little too lost within, but much of the film is engrossing, as are the performances
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