Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Russell Crowe | ... | Lt. Cristofuoro | |
Jon Foster | ... | Eric Poole | |
Sophie Traub | ... | Lori | |
Laura Dern | ... | Aunt Teresa | |
Alexis Dziena | ... | Maria | |
Arija Bareikis | ... | Marsha | |
Tim Hopper | ... | Dan Komenko | |
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Vivienne Benesch | ... | Lisa Komenko |
Brian Patrick Russell | ... | Facility Director (as Brian Russell) | |
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Lou Sumrall | ... | Cafeteria Guard |
Tanya Clarke | ... | Jackie Cristofuoro | |
Michael Kelly | ... | Gary | |
Lee R. Sellars | ... | Sam (as Lee Sellars) | |
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Matt Pepper | ... | Ben |
Saul Stein | ... | Another Guard |
Three lives. Buffalo detective Lt. Cristofuoro, whose catatonic wife is in hospital, takes a special interest in Eric Komenko, a juvenile who killed his parents and will be freed on his 18th birthday. So does Lori Cranston, 15 or 16, her body fully developed and the object of lust by her boss and her mother's new boyfriend. She keeps a scrapbook about Eric, and when he's released from custody, she hides in the backseat of his car, insisting he take her with him on a trip toward Albany where he's planning to meet a girl. Cristofuoro is certain Eric will kill again, so he follows. It's clear early on that Cristofuoro's probably right, but what's Lori's motivation? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
"Tenderness" is a film that falls into the category of movies that could have been good but ultimately fail to deliver. It's a psychological drama that invites us to enter the minds and motives of three disparate souls who all seem to be reaching for something they are not sure how to obtain. So far, so good, especially with Russell Crowe in the cast. But the movie seems to meander, never really drawing us in as much as is we'd like. The main portion of the film is a road trip, pairing the main character - a teen recently released from a juvenile correctional facility after murdering his parents - with a young female admirer who alternates between annoying and creepy. They are surreptitiously followed by Crowe, the semi-retired cop who originally put the boy away. Crowe is certain the boy's trail of murder includes more than his parents, and that he will kill again. We watch the whole thing unfold, waiting for something meaningful to happen, but by the time the credits roll, we're left wondering why we cared in the first place.