Despite having an interesting premise, Aussie director John Polsner (Swimfan, Hide and Seek) and screenwriter Emil Stern&#39;s adaptation of Robert Cormier&#39;s novel never seems to gain traction and generally fails to rise above its choppy editing and individual sets and sequences. Eric Poole (Jon Foster) is released from juvenile detention despite being convicted of the brutal murder of his parents. Eric must find a way to reconcile his past and cope with his present while Russell Crowe plays the semi-retired detective that brought him to justice in the past and is determined to keep close tabs on his future. Sophie Traub&#39;s Lori is an awkward teenager who has been obsessed with Eric since the murders and desperately pursues interaction between them at all costs.<br/><br/>It&#39;s a shame that potential character studies of these three individuals never fully materializes on screen nor does it mesh with the attempts at suspense and action. The biggest flaw is that the narrative is driven from the point of view of Crowe&#39;s detective character who also happens to have smallest of the three roles. Crowe&#39;s performance seems flat and perfunctory with no real character arc other than a slow chase of Eric and Lori and a subplot of a hospital-ridden wife that goes nowhere. Foster&#39;s Eric had the most potential but he never seems to bring more than a surface level amount of emotion and delivery to his scenes. The only standout is Traub who is able to balance her character&#39;s youthful recklessness and yet still retain some soulful insights.<br/><br/>This film is deliberately paced and a lot of scenes that were meant to provide emotional heft either do not resonate or are not fully played out which may be why the score is often raised several decibels. Characters share deeply personal details and yet suddenly we are on to another scene. Laura Dern who plays Eric&#39;s spiritual aunt is largely wasted. Would recommend only to individuals that are avid followers of the actors involved.<br/><br/>Grade: D

I&#39;m a huge Robert Cormier fan and have read every novel he&#39;s ever written. So I came to this movie with mixed emotions. I think his books are filmable, as they&#39;re relatively short. But they&#39;re not easily filmable, as he gets into the heads of his characters and the thought processes are what makes them so interesting. So far there&#39;s been 4 adaptations of Cormier&#39;s, until now. Chocolate war was an awful movie, messed with the book and changed the ending. Sucked in though to the students who watched the movie and not read the book. I am the cheese, featuring Cormier himself, was quite good - certainly better than it&#39;s remake, Lapse of Memory. But it was still flat and sentimental. The Bumblebee Flies Anyway seemed to be aimed too young and was an indie film that tried to overuse its name signing - Janene Garofalo. So I was worried Tenderness, with 2 name signings - Dern and Crowe - would do the same. What it was, though, was brilliant. It doesn&#39;t mess with the book as far as I remember it (it&#39;s been a few years). It does flesh out Crowe&#39;s character, who provides a narrative framework as well, but that actually works for the film and not against it. The ending is brilliant, the tension throughout is brilliant, and the &quot;teenage&quot; actors (really 19 and 25, but they pass well for 16 and 18) are great. It&#39;s a bleak tale. It won&#39;t be easily sold off the preview. But if you&#39;re a Cormier fan looking for a film that captures his ethos of hope through pain, his bleak &quot;there is no light, so learn from the tunnel&quot; themes are all present, which is why his books stand out and why this challenging and masterly crafted film will likely fail at the box office (as it has in Australia, where I&#39;m from) and remain a minor masterpiece.<br/><br/>(If there are any Dern fans there - she has 2 scenes, a cameo really, though she&#39;s quite good. Crowe fans - his expanded role really makes him a third lead, while the book was really about the main two. I thought there was room in the film to flesh him out, and they did so nicely. Think about his role in the The Insider - not the lead, but his presence is felt.)<br/><br/>But this film is very thought provoking and challenging. Even if you don&#39;t like Crowe it won&#39;t matter, and if you&#39;ve never read a Cormier book, it&#39;s a great introduction to his stuff, unlike the other adaptations.

&#39;Tenderness&#39; was first recommended to me by a close friend who I normally trust as far as judgment in film. However, when I learned the director, John Polson, was responsible for such films as &#39;Swimfan&#39; and &#39;Hide &amp; Seek&#39;, I had my doubts... As the movie progressed I found myself reassured by some emotionally provoking cinematography, strong performances, and an intriguing story. This film obviously is not comparable to Polson&#39;s previous flawed films. No, &#39;Tenderness&#39; is actually substantial proof that Polson does have some talent in his bones after all.<br/><br/>After several years of juvenile incarceration for the horrific murders of his parents, Eric Poole (Jon Foster) is released back into the world amidst much controversy. While dealing with his wife&#39;s terminal condition, Retired Detective Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe) keeps close watch on Eric after his release waiting for him to slip up. Shortly after returning to his Aunt&#39;s home, Eric sets off to Albany to look at colleges. Suspecting that there is more to the trip that Eric is letting on, Eric&#39;s Aunt Teresa (Laura Dern) notifies the Detective of the trip. Fueled by an obsession by a seemingly chance encounter with Eric before the murders, a young and immature teen, Lori (Sophie Traub), forces a second encounter and finds herself accompanying Eric on his journey all while both searching for their own version of tenderness.<br/><br/>While it&#39;s no secret that this is not a perfect film, there is something to be said about this adaptation of Robert Cormier&#39;s novel. Instead of drawing from high suspense of the occurring events and without spelling everything out for the audience like most American films, Australian director Polson focuses on studying the film&#39;s characters. Though the characterization is a worthy effort, I still felt that the full potential of each character&#39;s depth was not explored. As long as you can get past Polson&#39;s earlier work and view the film with an open mind, you should be able to enjoy &#39;Tenderness&#39; for as much as I did.