Trivia for
Tender Mercies (1983) More at IMDbPro »

• When Mac was talking with the band about possibly joining them to record some songs, they stopped in front of a shop named "T.M. Harper Hardware". Tess Harper played Rosa Lee, Mac's new wife.
  
  
• 'Robert Duvall (I)' is really singing in the nightclub scene.
  
  
• "Over You" is sung by the actors in the film, but the soundtrack version is sung by Lane Brody (of "Yellow Rose of Texas" fame). This song was nominated for an Oscar, and the Lane Brody version was nominated for an Academy of Country Music award.
  
  
• 'Allan Hubbard', who plays Sonny, had his 10th birthday shortly after the film wrapped, and was preparing to celebrate it with his family at his home in Paris, Texas. He was pleasantly surprised when his co-star Robert Duvall showed up at his home and gifted him with a guitar for the occasion. Hubbard - who went on to teach guitar professionally - still owns the guitar to this day.
  
  
• Wilford Brimley was cast at the urging of Robert Duvall.
  
  
• This marks the second cinematic collaboration between screenwriter Horton Foote and Robert Duvall. Foote wrote the screenplay adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), in which Duvall appeared in the role of Arthur "Boo" Radley.
  
  
• The film was originally released on March 4, 1983 in only three movie theaters in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This was due perhaps in part to poor test screenings - which had caused Universal executives to lose faith in the film - but also because Universal had released the far more expensive and anticipated Scarface (1983) the same year, and was spending most of its advertising budget to promote that film instead. Country music star Willie Nelson was nonetheless one of several country performers who were impressed by the authenticity of Robert Duvall's performance and offered to help promote it, however, studio executives told Duvall that they did not understand how someone like Nelson could help publicize it. Duvall later reflected that this was indicative of the studio's lack of understanding about both the genre and the film.
  
  

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