Tenderness (film)
Encyclopedia
Tenderness is a 2009
American crime film
directed by John Polson
, which stars Jon Foster
, Sophie Traub
, Russell Crowe
, and Laura Dern
. The film is based on the novel of the same name
by Robert Cormier
.
) is an 18-year-old boy who has killed his parents. Komenko frequently gets a visit from Lt. Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe
), the detective who arrested him. Cristofuoro is convinced Komenko is a psychopath, that he killed two teenage girls previously, and that he will kill again. After Eric is released from juvenile penitentiary, he lives with his aunt. His release attracts some media attention, which leads Lori to seek out Eric at his home. Lori gets in the back of Eric's car to seek shelter from rain, and she falls asleep.
When Eric leaves for the weekend to meet another girl at an amusement park
, Lori pops up from under a blanket while Eric is driving. The scare and near accident which follows cause a bit of a situation with the police. Reluctantly, Eric allows Lori to continue the journey with him. She tells him she saw him kiss a girl down by a river shortly before he murdered his parents. Eric realizes she saw him with the girl he choked to death in his first, unsolved murder, and attempts to kill Lori several times. Each time he is thwarted, either by Lori or by other circumstances.
At the amusement park, it is revealed that Maria, the girl Eric was to meet, was bait
by Cristofuoro in a plot to find Eric in order to trap him before he repeats his past mistakes. Lori warns him of the trap before he harms Maria. Because Cristofuoro cannot charge Eric with a crime, Eric is released and Lori is warned of Eric's nature. When Eric and Lori make a boat trip, Lori commits suicide
by allowing herself to fall into the water although she is unable to swim. Eric tries to save her, but to no avail. Eric is then seen in the custody of a penitentiary in Cristofuoro's presence. Although the detective admits to believing Eric's explanation, Cristofuoro explains that Eric belongs in prison and expects Lori's death will provide enough reason to keep Eric imprisoned.
In the end, it is revealed that Lori saw Eric put the dead girl in the river.
in Staten Island
, New York City
. It was also shot in the county of Rockland, New York
.
It is revealed on the DVD that the producers only convinced Crowe to take on the project after expanding his role and giving his character a voiceover narration.
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
American crime film
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
directed by John Polson
John Polson
John Polson is an Australian actor, director and founder of Tropfest. In February 2001, Polson attended the 12th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Hokkaidō, Japan where his film Siam Sunset won the Minami Toshiko Award...
, which stars Jon Foster
Jon Foster
Jon Foster is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the 2004 film The Door in the Floor, the 2006 horror movie, Stay Alive, and co-starring opposite Jenna Elfman in the CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose.-Personal life:Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
, Sophie Traub
Sophie Traub
Sophie Traub is a Canadian actress. Her roles include Lucy, in the short film, Pink , June alongside co-star Johnny Knoxville in Daltry Calhoun , Young Silvia in The Interpreter and Lori alongside co-star Russell Crowe in Tenderness .She attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto for...
, Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, and Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
. The film is based on the novel of the same name
Tenderness (novel)
Tenderness is a 1997 novel written by Robert Cormier. It is the basis for John Polson's 2008 film of the same name.-Plot summary:Eric Poole is a convicted teenage serial killer. Lorelei "Lori" Cranston is a troubled 15 year old girl...
by Robert Cormier
Robert Cormier
Robert Edmund Cormier was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged...
.
Plot
Lori is an unhappy 15/16-year-old girl who lives with her single mother. She receives sexual attention from men, including her boss at a retail store and her mothers' boyfriend Gary. Eric Komenko (Jon FosterJon Foster
Jon Foster is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the 2004 film The Door in the Floor, the 2006 horror movie, Stay Alive, and co-starring opposite Jenna Elfman in the CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose.-Personal life:Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
) is an 18-year-old boy who has killed his parents. Komenko frequently gets a visit from Lt. Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
), the detective who arrested him. Cristofuoro is convinced Komenko is a psychopath, that he killed two teenage girls previously, and that he will kill again. After Eric is released from juvenile penitentiary, he lives with his aunt. His release attracts some media attention, which leads Lori to seek out Eric at his home. Lori gets in the back of Eric's car to seek shelter from rain, and she falls asleep.
When Eric leaves for the weekend to meet another girl at an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, Lori pops up from under a blanket while Eric is driving. The scare and near accident which follows cause a bit of a situation with the police. Reluctantly, Eric allows Lori to continue the journey with him. She tells him she saw him kiss a girl down by a river shortly before he murdered his parents. Eric realizes she saw him with the girl he choked to death in his first, unsolved murder, and attempts to kill Lori several times. Each time he is thwarted, either by Lori or by other circumstances.
At the amusement park, it is revealed that Maria, the girl Eric was to meet, was bait
Entrapment
In criminal law, entrapment is conduct by a law enforcement agent inducing a person to commit an offense that the person would otherwise have been unlikely to commit. In many jurisdictions, entrapment is a possible defense against criminal liability...
by Cristofuoro in a plot to find Eric in order to trap him before he repeats his past mistakes. Lori warns him of the trap before he harms Maria. Because Cristofuoro cannot charge Eric with a crime, Eric is released and Lori is warned of Eric's nature. When Eric and Lori make a boat trip, Lori commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by allowing herself to fall into the water although she is unable to swim. Eric tries to save her, but to no avail. Eric is then seen in the custody of a penitentiary in Cristofuoro's presence. Although the detective admits to believing Eric's explanation, Cristofuoro explains that Eric belongs in prison and expects Lori's death will provide enough reason to keep Eric imprisoned.
In the end, it is revealed that Lori saw Eric put the dead girl in the river.
Cast
- Russell CroweRussell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
as Lt. Cristofuoro - Jon FosterJon FosterJon Foster is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the 2004 film The Door in the Floor, the 2006 horror movie, Stay Alive, and co-starring opposite Jenna Elfman in the CBS comedy Accidentally on Purpose.-Personal life:Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of...
as Eric Komenko - Sophie TraubSophie TraubSophie Traub is a Canadian actress. Her roles include Lucy, in the short film, Pink , June alongside co-star Johnny Knoxville in Daltry Calhoun , Young Silvia in The Interpreter and Lori alongside co-star Russell Crowe in Tenderness .She attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto for...
as Lori - Laura DernLaura DernLaura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
as Teresa, Eric's aunt - Alexis DzienaAlexis Dziena-Early life :Dziena was born in New York City of Irish, Italian and Polish descent. She attended the private Saint Ann's School alongside her Bringing Rain costar, Paz de la Huerta. She spent many of her summers growing up in the small South Jersey shore town of Sea Isle City...
as Maria - Arija BareikisArija Bareikis- Biography :She starred alongside Rob Schneider as Kate in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and currently is cast as LAPD police officer Chickie Brown, in the police drama series Southland, which originally aired on NBC before moving to TNT in 2010....
as Marsha, Lori's mother - Michael KellyMichael Kelly (American actor)Michael Joseph Kelly is an American actor.-Early life:Kelly was born in Philadelphia and raised in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the son of Maureen and Michael Kelly. He has one brother and two sisters . He graduated from Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia...
as Gary, Marsha's boyfriend - Tim HopperTim HopperTim Hopper is an American actor known for his appearances in movies like Tenderness and To Die For.He has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois since 1989 and acted in various stage productions, including Arthur Miller's The Crucible.He was nominated for...
as Dan Komenko - C. S. Lee as a highway patrolman
Production
The scenes in the juvenile detention center were shot at the Arthur Kill Correctional FacilityArthur Kill Correctional Facility
Arthur Kill Correctional Facility is a medium security correctional facility opened in 1976 operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. Arthur Kill is located in New York City in the Borough of Staten Island...
in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was also shot in the county of Rockland, New York
Rockland, New York
Rockland is a town in the northern part of Sullivan County, New York, United States. At the 2000 census, the population was 3,913.- History :The town, like most of this part of New York, was part of the Hardenburgh Patent...
.
It is revealed on the DVD that the producers only convinced Crowe to take on the project after expanding his role and giving his character a voiceover narration.