Betty Buckley is sooo miscast

Hey Jonieblon,

I am neither a fan of Country music nor a fan of Broadway music, and, while I never had any formal education in music, I certainly have had a life long appreciation of different music, books, and dramatic entertainment. Betty Buckley is almost an unknown to me other than having seen her in a few films.

You have a right to your opinions as do we all, but I have to wonder how you can think her performance ruined this film. I don't know why you would describe her singing in this film as a "Broadway delivery," but I would agree with you that her singing was not "simple honky tonk" delivery either. Then again, I do not believe her character was intended to be a simple honky tonk singer in those scenes. Her character may have started as a simple honky tonk singer years earlier, but like most other successful performers, her character evolved into a far more polished performer who was expected to appeal to more than her honky tonk bar beginnings.

I think Buckley performed just as her character was intended to perform, and she was very credible to me as a rags to riches mother who spoiled her child as she left her simple but more difficult past behind as she gained more success. Buckley made me have ambivalent feelings about her character. Sympathy for the difficult times she went through with Mac, happy for her success, bitter at the way she treated Mac when he went to see her show, contempt for the way she spoiled her daughter, and once again sympathy for her emptiness with the death of her daughter.

Her performance certainly did not ruin the film for me. I believed her all the way. I know I have prejudices for some actors, and I simply will not watch their work no matter how many other folks say they did something really well. Sean Penn and Al Pacino are just two folks I simply will not watch under any circumstances. It is not a rational decision on my part - it is just my personal feelings about these guys. Perhaps your statements about Buckley may also be some sort of prejudice you may have for her. Then again, maybe you are right in your opinion, and I am all wrong. In any case, I thought she did well in this film.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

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I think she was amazing (much better than Harper),

Interesting that anyone would specifically say Buckley's performance was much better than Harper's. I thought Tess Harper was great. I can't imagine the movie with anyone else in the role. I could see where some people might mistake Harper's dry, low-key performance for mediocre acting. But I think that's who her character is. I grew up in a small town in Kentucky and the senior women in my family were mostly devout Southern Baptist. Tess Harper's character is resigned, spare, unassuming but proper. That says to me that she got the rural southern Christian lady type down pat. Very authentic.

With Buckley on the other hand, acting-wise I don't have a problem with her performance. But I don't have that same feeling that she was made for the part as I do with Harper's.

But musically, I do have an issue with Buckley. I couldn't stand to listen to her sing. I re-watched this movie recently after not having seen it for several years. When watching a movie I've never seen before, I'm generally purist about watching every single frame of it. But since I had in fact seen Tender Mercies before, I fast-forwarded though Buckley's singing parts. It's the only thing about this otherwise wonderful movie that I didn't like.

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I loved Betty Buckley in this film. In fact, i would have given her a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

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@ PatrickGH91: Yup. This is also my interpretation, And you stated it quite succinctly (except for writing "leaves" instead of "lives?").

See - Even idiotic, possibly trolling OPs can lead to thoughtful, illuminating comments 

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