Editing Tender Mercies (section)

==Accolades==
The [[56th Academy Awards]] nominations were announced about 10 months after ''Tender Mercies'' was released. Little had been done to promote its candidacy: only four Oscar campaign advertisements were purchased; all of them appeared in the trade journal ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'',<ref name="NYT0408"/> and Duvall had declined to campaign for himself or the film.<ref name="Holden">{{Harvnb|Holden|1993|p=352}}.</ref> Beresford and studio executives were surprised when the film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.<ref name="BeresfordMiracles"/> Harper was believed by some to be a strong contender for either [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] or [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]], but ultimately she was nominated in neither category.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Scott|first=Vernon|title=Scott's World: Oscars — Support or not support|work=[[United Press International]]|date=1984-02-02|location=[[Los Angeles]], [[California]]}}</ref>

Duvall was the only American actor nominated for the Best Actor Oscar; his competition were [[British people|Britons]] [[Michael Caine]] (who had co-starred with Duvall in the 1976 ''[[The Eagle Has Landed (film)|The Eagle Has Landed]]''), [[Tom Conti]], [[Tom Courtenay]] and [[Albert Finney]]. During an interview before the Oscar ceremony, Duvall offended some Britons by complaining about "the [[Limey]] syndrome," claiming "the attitude with a lot of people in Hollywood is that what they do in England is somehow better than what we do here."<ref name="Holden"/> Duvall, who was presented with the Oscar by country music star, [[Dolly Parton]], said of winning the award, "It was a nice feeling, knowing I was the home-crowd favorite."<ref>{{Harvnb|Slawson|1985|p=176}}.</ref> In a ''New York Times'' profile of Duvall that appeared six years after ''Tender Mercies''{{'}} release, [[Nan C. Robertson]] wrote that, despite four previous Academy Award nominations, "it was not until he won as Best Actor in 1983 ... that moviegoers woke up in droves to this great natural resource. The reason was that they rarely recognized Mr. Duvall from one part to another, so effortlessly did he vanish into each celluloid persona."<ref name="NYT0129"/> Foote, who was so certain he would not win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird (film)|To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' he had not attended the [[35th Academy Awards|1963 ceremony]], made sure he was present to collect his award for Best Original Screenplay.<ref name="FooteMiracles"/> The critical success of the film allowed Foote to exercise considerable control over his future film projects, including final veto power over major decisions; when such power was denied, Foote would simply refuse to do the film.<ref name="Briley107" />

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[56th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]<ref name="FooteMiracles"/>
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]
| Philip S. Hobel
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[Bruce Beresford]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Robert Duvall]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen]]
| [[Horton Foote]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]]
| "[[Over You (Tender Mercies song)|Over You]]" <br /> Music and Lyrics by [[Austin Roberts (singer)|Austin Roberts]] and [[Boyce and Hart|Bobby Hart]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[1983 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="WP0501" /><ref name="festival-cannes.com" />
| [[Palme d'Or]]
| Bruce Beresford
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[David di Donatello|David di Donatello Awards]]
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor|Best Foreign Actor]]
| Robert Duvall
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[36th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| Bruce Beresford
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="5"| [[41st Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Robert Duvall
| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with [[Tom Courtenay]] for ''[[The Dresser (1983 film)|The Dresser]]''.}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| [[Tess Harper]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| Bruce Beresford
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song – Motion Picture]]
| "Over You" <br /> Music and Lyrics by Austin Roberts and Bobby Hart
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
| colspan="2"| Best Film
| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with ''[[Terms of Endearment]]''.}}
|-
| Best Actor
| Robert Duvall
| {{won}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[1983 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Bruce Beresford
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Robert Duvall
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1983|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
|-
| [[1983 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| rowspan="2"| Robert Duvall
| {{draw|2nd Place}}
|-
| [[1983 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[36th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Drama – Written Directly for the Screen]]
| Horton Foote
| {{won}}
|-
| [[5th Youth in Film Awards|Young Artist Awards]]
| Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
| Allan Hubbard
| {{nom}}
|}