Editing Tender Mercies (section)

==Release==

===Distribution===
Philip and Mary Ann Hobel spent a long time seeking a distributor for ''Tender Mercies'' without any success. Duvall, who began to doubt the film would be widely released, was unable to help the Hobels because he was busy trying to find a distributor for ''[[Angelo My Love]]'', a film he had written, directed and produced. Eventually, Universal Pictures agreed to distribute ''Tender Mercies''.<ref name="Slaw167">{{Harvnb|Slawson|1985|p=167}}.</ref> [[Test screening]]s for the film were held, which Beresford described as the most unusual he had ever experienced. The director said that the preview audiences appeared to be very engaged with the picture, to the point the theaters were so silent, "if you flicked a piece of paper on the floor, you could hear it fall." However, the post-screening feedback was, in Beresford's words, "absolutely disastrous."<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> As a result, Universal executives lost faith in the film and made little effort to promote it.<ref name="FooteMiracles" /><ref name="Briley115">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=115}}.</ref> Foote said of the studio, "I don't know that they disliked the film, I just think they thought it was inconsequential and of no consequence at all. I guess they thought it would just get lost in the shuffle."<ref name="FooteMiracles"/> Others in the film industry were equally dismissive; one [[Paramount Pictures]] representative described the picture as "like watching paint dry".<ref name="Briley115" />

===Festivals and theatrical run===
''Tender Mercies'' was released on March 4, 1983,<ref name="PRN0307">{{Cite news|title=Tender Mercies|work=[[PR Newswire]]|date=1983-03-07|location=[[Universal City, California]]}}</ref> in only three theaters: one in New York City, one in Los Angeles, and one in Chicago. ''New York Times'' critic [[Vincent Canby]] observed that it was released during "the time of year when distributors usually get rid of all of those movies they don't think are worth releasing in the prime moviegoing times of Christmas and the midsummer months".<ref name="Slaw167"/> The simultaneous release of ''Angelo My Love'' led to some more publicity for Duvall himself, but was of no help to ''Tender Mercies''.<ref name="Slaw167"/> Duvall also believed that Universal's lack of familiarity and comfort with southern culture and the country music genre further reduced their faith in the film. When country star Willie Nelson offered to help publicize it, a studio executive told Duvall she did not understand how the singer could contribute to the promotion, which Duvall said was indicative of the studio's failure to understand both the film and the country music genre.<ref name="DuvallMiracles"/><ref>Tess Harper later claimed that Universal spent most of its advertising budget on ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]''— released later that year — and had little left to publicize ''Tender Mercies'' (''Miracles & Mercies'', 2002).</ref>

''Tender Mercies'' was shown in competition at the [[1983 Cannes Film Festival]],<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1378/year/1983.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Tender Mercies |access-date=2009-11-30 |work=festival-cannes.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012074725/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1378/year/1983.html |archive-date=2013-10-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> where it was described as a relatively optimistic alternative to darker, more violent entries like ''[[One Deadly Summer]]'', ''[[Moon in the Gutter]]'' and ''[[Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dionne|first=E.J.|author-link=E.J. Dionne|title=Violent Undercurrent Marks Some Films at Cannes Festival|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1983-05-16|location=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]|page=15, Cultural Desk, Section C, Column 2}}</ref> It was also shown at the 1983 [[International Film Festival of India]] in [[New Delhi]].<ref name="Beath">{{Cite news|last=Beath|first=Linda|title=International Film Festival of India People part of IFFI's fascination|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=1983-02-04|location=[[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]}}</ref> A jury headed by director [[Lindsay Anderson]] determined that none of the films in contention, including ''Tender Mercies'', were good enough to win the Golden Peacock, the festival's top prize. Film critic Jugu Abraham said the jury's standards were higher than those of the Academy Awards, and that ''Tender Mercies''{{'}} lack of success at the festival was a "clear example of what is good cinema for some, not being so good for others".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Abraham|first=Jugu|title=International film festivals and India|work=DearCinema|date=2008-12-10|url=http://dearcinema.com/international-film-festivals-and-india/|access-date=2009-03-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226054842/http://dearcinema.com/international-film-festivals-and-india/|archive-date=2009-02-26}}</ref>

===Home media===
Following its brief theatrical run, Universal Pictures quickly sold the film's rights to cable companies, allowing ''Tender Mercies'' to be shown on television. When the film unexpectedly received five Academy Award nominations nearly a year after its original release, the studio attempted to redistribute the film to theaters; however, the cable companies began televising the film about a week before the Oscar ceremony, which essentially halted any attempts at a theatrical re-release.<ref name="FooteMiracles"/> When the film first played on [[HBO]] in March 1984, it surpassed the three major networks in ratings for homes with cable televisions.<ref name="Slaw181"/> ''Tender Mercies'' was released on VHS some time later, and was first released on DVD on June 22, 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/49045/Tender-Mercies/dvd|title=''Tender Mercies'' — About the DVD|access-date=2009-11-25|first=Dave|last=Kehr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416041637/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/49045/Tender-Mercies/dvd|archive-date=2010-04-16|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author-link=Dave Kehr|date=2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>