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Convicted as a juvenile, handsome young Jon Foster (as Eric Komenko) gets out of jail free, despite being a psychopathic killer. Lonely and abused teenager Sophie Traub (as Lorelei "Lori" Cranston) has become infatuated with Mr. Foster, and has been keeping a scrapbook on him. She decides to join Foster on a trip to look at colleges in upstate New York, by stowing away in the back seat of his car. Foster, who is also looking to keep a sex date with another female admirer, wants to get rid of Ms. Traub. But, as they travel, Foster becomes attached to Traub. Then, he learns she witnessed a crime...

Meanwhile, police lieutenant Russell Crowe (as John Cristofuoro) follows the young couple. After helping put Foster in the pokey, Mr. Crowe developed a strange bond with the young killer. Crowe thinks Foster will kill again...

"Tenderness" starts out by having you think it's going somewhere else. It also toys around with eroticism. But, the film is really more like a character study. Foster is a psychopathic killer who Crowe feels is apt to kill again, with vulnerable underage Traub the likely victim. Walking off with the best-written role, Traub actually provides Foster with some measure of salvation. The film is subtly acted and directed, looks great for the price, but stops short of excellence. The character played by Crowe is not drawn well into events; he and his invalid wife are far too detached from the main characters.

****** Tenderness (1/15/09) John Polson ~ Jon Foster, Sophie Traub, Russell Crowe, Laura Dern

A man named Eric Poole (Jon Foster), who was sent to prison after murdering his parents and raping a girl as an adolescent, is released back into the free world. Living at home and deciding to investigate the colleges of America, Eric is tracked by a lonely girl named Lori (Sophie Traub). Lori has been following Eric's release in the papers and she remembers meeting him once from a brief chance encounter. After she sneaks into the back of his car, Eric and Lori eventually come together and stay on the road, gradually remembering when they first met. Eric is also pursued by an obsessed cop, Detective Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe), a man who is grieving in having to look after his paralysed wife.

Though an initially intense and interesting film, Tenderness directed by John Polson (who previously made Swimfan and Hide and Seek) remains a rather uneventful and often unconvincing crime thriller. The opening quarter of the film, while leisurely paced, is constructed to develop our interest into how these characters are interconnected with each other. Certainly there are a number of fascinating questions asked; such as why this teenage girl is unconcerned by the dangers of this lunatic and why Cristofuoro himself is to obsessed with his own pursuite, surely not just because of his instincts and his proper sense of the law. Where the film falls apart though is in its undeveloped answers to many of these. The girl's eventual fate is a grim and depressing one, and though we do see portions of her life as being undesirable - her mother has a new boyfriend moving into their house and Lori is forced to flash her breasts for a man's pleasure - there is never a completely satisfying closure to her unhappiness. Furthermore, Cristofuoro's insistence to follow Eric and try to catch him out leaves much to be desired for the character. He does not spend a great deal of time interacting with his target and merely describes it as his hobby. There must be a stronger grudge between the men, than a mere obsession; it remains a rather flat and uninteresting part.

As with the script, the performances of the film are relatively uneven as well. Russell Crowe is always a strong actor but he is at his best in portraying masculine figures of internal conflict. Here he is given a fairly routine and slightly disappointing role. His reliance on an American accent is at times jarring and unnecessary and like in Ridley Scott's film Body of Lies, he does not seem to have a great deal to do in the film. For such a powerful actor, his part is quite underwritten and does not benefit from a substantial level of character development. Sophie Traub as Lori is reasonable in her role, sometimes exuding emotion but occasionally irritable in trying to be funny and energetic. It is most disappointing that we never really reach a deeper understanding of her unhappiness and discomfort in life. It would have contributed a much stronger emotional pull to the film. As Eric, Jon Foster is sometimes intense but mostly blank, never entirely capturing the chilling sense of menace and dread that he could have. There are moments that we suspect Eric may succumb to his desires to kill but this level of tension needed to be more persistent to illuminate the threat that he is. There are certainly some assets to the film; the flashbacks to Eric's brutal crimes are used to show his current struggle of emotions. Yet as with Lori, we never gain a significant insight into his true psychosis.

Tenderness would have benefited from a stronger script that would allow more opportunities to delve into the anxiety of both a teenager and the internal confliction of a teenager. As it stands, it never reaches the heights of a film like The Woodsman and it remains an occasionally intense but mostly routine and flat thriller that owed a lot more to the abilities of its star, Russell Crowe.

In Buffalo, Lori Cranston (Sophie Traub) is a troubled developed teen facing unwelcomed sexual attention from her boss and her mother Marsha (Arija Bareikis)'s boyfriend Gary (Michael Kelly). Eric Komenko (Jon Foster) killed his parents at 15 and is getting released from juvenile detention at 18 to stay with his aunt Teresa (Laura Dern). His arresting officer Lt. Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe) is certain that he's a psychopath. Eric is driving to meet up with Maria (Alexis Dziena) when he finds Lori in the back of his car.

This movie wants to hold onto its secrets. The problem is that I don't particularly care. The first half is one long tease. The opening with Sophie Traub has a couple of compelling moments. Jon Foster has a quizzical look on him. There are many possibilities. The story has a very odd twist but not a thrilling one. Russell Crowe is essentially wasted in this movie. His character is unnecessary and the story may benefit without him. None of it really pulled me into this movie. If Sophie Traub could play it more disturbed, it could be an interesting character study.

Despite having an interesting premise, Aussie director John Polsner (Swimfan, Hide and Seek) and screenwriter Emil Stern's adaptation of Robert Cormier'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's Lori is an awkward teenager who has been obsessed with Eric since the murders and desperately pursues interaction between them at all costs.

It'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's detective character who also happens to have smallest of the three roles. Crowe'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'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's youthful recklessness and yet still retain some soulful insights.

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's spiritual aunt is largely wasted. Would recommend only to individuals that are avid followers of the actors involved.

Grade: D

I love Russell Crowe. The guy who plays Eric is pretty cute and a good actor. So, one star for each of them: but, even Oscar-winner Russell Crowe couldn't save this one.

The supposed chemistry between Lori & Eric just didn't work for me. The sub-plot with the Detective and his wife wasn't fleshed out enough to make me care.

On the plus side, The cinematography was gorgeous and the cast definitely can act. However, the pace is PAINFULLY slow for a thriller. And (no spoilers) the ending was a bit anti-climatic.

I just kept wishing it would end which, gladly, it finally did.

'Tenderness' 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 'Swimfan' and 'Hide & Seek', 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's previous flawed films. No, 'Tenderness' is actually substantial proof that Polson does have some talent in his bones after all.

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'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'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'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.

While it's no secret that this is not a perfect film, there is something to be said about this adaptation of Robert Cormier'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's characters. Though the characterization is a worthy effort, I still felt that the full potential of each character's depth was not explored. As long as you can get past Polson's earlier work and view the film with an open mind, you should be able to enjoy 'Tenderness' for as much as I did.

Very slow moving. Very predictable ending. If it didn't have Russell C in it, I don't think it would have seen the light of day.

You keep watching for some injection of... anything really! It tries to be very character driven, but you really don't give a toss for any of them because the subject matter is so boring.

Some say the ending is a good old "didn't see that coming"... to them I say "RUBBISH".

Trailer made it look suspenseful, eery, even challenging... none of this comes through. For such a short film you feel like you've been watching it for days.

Me and my girlfriend both thought the other was liking it so neither of us said anything until the end... she broke the silence at the credits, "Well that was pure sh**" lol. I didn't disagree.

A surprisingly subtle look at the often used serial killer storyline. You won't guess the next move even if you try. My hats off to the film makers for not following the by the numbers approach that has been worn into the ground about 500 films ago.

Great acting by the unknown young part of the cast is highlighted by the performances of the veteran actors. Photography is first rate and the locations further lend credibility to this unpolished gem.

This is not your run of the mill suspense thriller. The suspense lies in not knowing the next move and yet expecting the worst. Even the "big surprise" plot twists don't come off as the usual loud and explosive Hollywood style moments.

The pacing of this film will certainly put your average teen to sleep due to the lack of gratuitous violence and gore. The rest of us are left with a haunting glimpse of tortured souls produced by talented artists, both in front and behind the camera.

Nice work people!

I hadn't heard of this film until Redbox e-mailed me and reported it as a new release. I went out and rented it right away, curious to see what Russell Crowe had done as I like to watch him work.

Hats off to Jon Foster and Sophie Traub for telegraphing internal dialogue well enough to keep me nearly interested. There is tension, as you can't tell if Foster's character will act on impulse to bring more grief to the world.

Grief is the common theme. Life as Grief, Actions and Consequences as Grief, Breathing as Grief. Fortunately I took my Welbutrin this morning so I was in a pretty good mood both going in and coming out of the film experience.

All the professional elements are present: acting, directing, lighting, set design, and even a minimal amount of music. There is a story here, but its one that neither added to my life or made me feel better about the human condition.

Skip this one, don't waste the spot in your Netflix queue.

I'm a huge Robert Cormier fan and have read every novel he's ever written. So I came to this movie with mixed emotions. I think his books are filmable, as they're relatively short. But they'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's been 4 adaptations of Cormier'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'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't mess with the book as far as I remember it (it's been a few years). It does flesh out Crowe'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 "teenage" actors (really 19 and 25, but they pass well for 16 and 18) are great. It's a bleak tale. It won't be easily sold off the preview. But if you're a Cormier fan looking for a film that captures his ethos of hope through pain, his bleak "there is no light, so learn from the tunnel" 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'm from) and remain a minor masterpiece.

(If there are any Dern fans there - she has 2 scenes, a cameo really, though she'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.)

But this film is very thought provoking and challenging. Even if you don't like Crowe it won't matter, and if you've never read a Cormier book, it's a great introduction to his stuff, unlike the other adaptations.

The movie had a simple plot. A mass murderer, Eric, who killed a girl friend and his parents when 15 is released at 18 because he was tried as a juvenile because he was on antidepressants. So we know the guy has some serious issues and is labeled a psychopath; there is no doubt what so ever he is the killer. He goes to live with his dead mother's sister, Aunt Teresa, played by Laura Dern. There he is comfortable and has his old mother's car and seems quite well off. The Aunt tries to give him a break and be supportive. The driving force is Detective Cristofuoro, played by good old Russel Crowe. We seem him tending his comatose wife in some sanitarium as a semi retired Buffalo NY cop who original busted Eric, He is on Eric's case, but more in a fatherly way than in some Dirty Harry way but he feels Eric is a time bomb. In his last week in reform school, a cute female teenage prisoner Maria, made a pass at Eric and gave him a note telling him to meet up with her cause she is getting out soon too. So we have the troubled young killer Eric and the fastidious detective cleaning up his house, his comatose wife & old unsolved cases, all dogging him.

Enter Lorelei, the opening character, She is a sexually abused, more in a peeping tom way, waif who lives with her loser mother and her straight looking but twisted boyfriend, She is obsessed with Eric based on a chance encounter before he was arrested but is unknown by Eric. She lies to her mom then uses her body to get rides and money to Eric's aunt's house where she hides in the back of his car, his dead mother's Volvo station wagon. Eric, who told his aunt he is going to Albany to see colleges is really trying to meet up with his prison admirer Maria, So Loralei startles him when she reveals herself from her hiding place and almost causes a wreck on US 9W, a funny road to take to get from Buffalo to Albany when that is a north south Road from Rockland County NY City area to Albany, maybe he should have used 5 & 20 instead? Okay, she has issues and he is trying to politely dump her the whole time but she dogs him. There is no sex between them but she definitely wants to be hurt or killed by him as some sort of twisted intimacy thing. This is where it gets psychological since he does have issues but restrains himself. The whole time the detective is dogging him and he is aware of it yet cavalier, leaving a cross hanging from the detectives' rear view mirror.

The best part of this movie is that it's a character study of three different characters with wildly different but twisted motivations. It isn't the best film of it's type but it is worthy and unexploitive considering the issues involved.

i went into this film with pretty low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.... to learn that my intuition is not faltering. This film was abhorrent.

Russel Crowe is simply too good for a John Polsen film. From the man who brought us the dastardly simplistic and stupefying swimfan, and similarly unthrilling and dumbly plotted hide and seek, comes a film that is desperately crying for attention as a 'serious film'. it is as a result unfortunate that i laughed harder through this film that 'the brothers bloom'...

The conceit is a retardation of most bonnie a Clyde rip offs, with a serial killer, and an obsessed feline catering to the every whim of said murderer.

Russel Crowe plays the semi retired cop (how many obsessed semi retired cops are there in films!!!) following a man who is sure to re-commit.

While the narrative has some really thought provoking themes; a man who can only feel tenderness by releasing life from victims, a girl vacant as the apathetic family she fled who craves tenderness, and a road trip of discovery it is only in the hands of a hack such as john polsen that such a film could simultaneously feel both so derivative and boring.

The cinematography is appalling, underlit and unmoving; but not in terms of changeling where this stalling aesthetic added to the emotional weight of the proceedings... no rather to infuriate and illustrate a director who thinks 'stillness' equates to drama.! The poster, and stills i saw showed russel crowe in all his glory, but this is in no way a film about him... in actuality he shares barely twenty minutes of wasted screen time where he appears to coast through the proceedings... Gone are the days of Romper Stomper, The Insider, Gladiator and Master and Commander.. This film felt like a favour to the director from 'sum of us' days, and as a result lacks direction, presence, logic and cohesion.

The moment of a laugh out loud comes when said femme fatale, who can't swim, stands up on a boat with the murderer, and starts rocking the boat (yes literally and metaphorically... who writes this crap) and starts exotically dancing while doing it... i won't tell you what comes of this but trust me... it ain't rocket science. This moment nailed it for me. This is just a stupid horrible film and a waste of time.

The film is a roadtrip where nothing happens except stupidly plotted, badly acted, terribly directed narrative exposition.

The film eventually has the nerve to bookend itself with a quote that was both at the beginning and the end of the film... but again like most of the film it is contrived and comes from a completely abstract and unnecessary direction..

Dull. TV Movie at best. Somebody stop this hack John Polsen from ruining any more scripts.

If there's one thing that could sum up the career of john polsen its 'hack'. he is non auteur and he has no idea how to tell a story.

However it must be said that at the premier despite all my friends spitting similar vitriol, there was a semi applause at the end... now whether this was because John Polsen was in the audience i do not know... but hey... what do i know... maybe some people enjoyed it? Just not me.

Terderness is not a thriller, it is a drama with suspense, if you don't get it, then you don't. It is an indie, different, and not a happy one, not by far. It reminds me of the Korean film Seom (The Isle), although it is not as brutal, just as sad. People in it, very well portrayed all in all, are desperate, trying to be anything else than they have to be. It is rare to find this slowly moving film with such strong emotions beneath the surface, specially when the problems are so far off, at least an American one, they are use to be about people finding themselves. This film is about trying to lost oneself. It deserves to get noticed, although I can't imagine normal people liking it. But if you like such films as The Isle, Underground, Funny Games, it is a must.

A rather sombre and one-note film about a young serial killer who manages to escape trial as an adult on grounds of diminished responsibility, and gets released into the chicken coop again when he's 18. A semi-retired cop who wants to get him back in custody and stop any more deaths trails him after release. A young lady who doesn't think much of life hooks up with the serial killer. Brings to life a phrase I recently heard from a philosopher, when we look for romantic partners we look for, "familiar suffering".

The film is about people with meaningless lives, looking for a reason to get out of bed every day other than to continuously reflect on their pain.

Potentially for people who already read the novel, the poor editing is easily overlooked as they know what was going on anyway. Russell Crowe and Laura Dern signed up to the project, perhaps as the novel has received some quite favourable attention, but they don't bring much to it.

The film lacks any dramatic oomph, partly because the cop is a really nice guy who looks at Eric as a young man with a mental illness; and there's no animus back from Eric, simply because he lacks most ordinary human feelings. Although a few people did manage to get happy about Tenderness, it seemed to me like like a roughly hewn film with no outstanding qualities.

It's often described as an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Well it is, but not in a good way. You're on the edge of your seat ready to press eject at any given moment if something doesn't happen very soon. Unfortunately I can't review more than the first hour of the movie, because I ended up falling asleep at 6pm, which never happens to me.

If you're expecting something like Body of Lies, State of Play or even Proof of Life, you'll be very disappointed with this one... so have a backup ready, if you don't like it after 20 minutes you won't like it period.

If anything good has to be said about this film, I liked the soundtrack, the mood was perfectly set for something to take place but it just didn't. So avoid it.