Duvall won a much-deserved Best Actor Oscar for this sparse and moving character study penned by Horton Foote (who also won an Oscar) and directed by Australian Beresford (Crimes of the Heart, Driving Miss Daisy).  Duvall plays a washed-up country singer that just sorta turns up one day in a run-down motel owned by a widow (Harper) and her son (Hubbard).  Working in exchange for a place to stay, he soon becomes involved with the two before his past as a famous but boozy country western singer eventually catches up with him.

The Texas desert isn’t that far of a stretch from the Australian Outback and Beresford capitalizes on the stark scenery to make the focus on the characters and the choices they’ve made.  The performances are top notch with Duvall the embodiment of quiet understatement which works nicely with Harper’s kind but guarded woman.  Buckley is nicely icy as Duvall’s ex-wife, a country star in her own right who belts out the Oscar-nominated “Over You” and Barkin follows up a memorable debut in Diner with a brief role as Duvall’s estranged daughter.