Robert Duvall names his two most overlooked movies: “It’s one of the best”
Robert Duvall is a fascinating case study in how modern film fandom views certain stars from yesteryear.
Despite working alongside a significant number of his fellow marquee names from the New Hollywood era, it’s never quite felt like Duvall was afforded the same exalted profile. For instance, he’s rarely mentioned in the same breath as his 1970s era peers, such as Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Robert De Niro, despite boasting an equally impressive filmography and a murderer’s row of astonishing performances.
The unsung hero of his generation, while Pacino and De Niro took the lion’s share of plaudits for their incredible turns in the first two Godfather movies, he was right there alongside them, lending quiet dignity to his consigliere character, Tom Hagen. Heck, he was even nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for The Godfather, yet his unshowy performance is unlikely to be talked about as much as others in the film, despite being the glue that holds everything together.
His slightly under-the-radar career is also illuminated when you look at the other movies he was honoured by the Academy for. He received nominations for The Great Santini and A Civil Action, plus a win for the country music drama Tender Mercies, none of which have particularly stuck around in public consciousness. This is not to say Duvall isn’t brilliant in those films, but they haven’t had the staying power of some of Pacino, De Niro, and Nicholson’s more famous vehicles.
Having said that, it’s unlikely that the actor would be in any way aggrieved at not having as significant a profile, or that he’d rather he were more mythologised by critics and cinephiles. He’s always just been a great actor who does great work, and he’s been able to lend his gravitas to films of all kinds, from crime stories to westerns, and even the occasional action flick or comedy. However, his stealthily brilliant career does beg an important question: which movies on his already underrated CV does he consider the most overlooked?
When the thoughtful legend was asked this by AV Club in 2022, what sprang to mind ine he’d caught on TV that week. “I saw a film two nights ago that I had forgotten about called Convicts,” he mused, referring to a 1991 drama set on a sugarcane plantation in early 20th-century Texas, adding, “It’s one of the best performances I’ve ever given.”
Written by Tender Mercies collaborator Horton Foote, he played a senile Civil War veteran who employs convicts to work his plantation. However, when he adds a fresh-faced young boy played by Lukas Haas to the roster and forms a bond with him, the film becomes a story of a man coming to terms with his own mortality. Duvall received some strong write-ups for his performance, but sadly, the movie as a whole didn’t go over as well.
Duvall’s second pick for his most overlooked film fared a lot better than Convicts, and even landed him a ‘Best Actor’ nomination. It was a 1997 passion project for the star, who wrote the script himself in the ‘80s, before struggling for more than a decade to bring it to life. The Apostle told the story of a troubled Southern Pentecostal preacher, which allowed Duvall to explore topics of faith that were very close to his heart. This time, even though it did well at the box office and was generally championed by critics, he still received some “negative feedback” from both religious and secular communities.
This divide perhaps cast a pall over the film, which was otherwise a roaring success for Duvall. Still, there were two silver linings to the mixed reactions to the film, and they helped the man rest easier at night. “I got a terrific letter from Marlon Brando,” he revealed with a smile, “I showed him that and he really appreciated it”. He also recalled getting a note from Christian evangelist Billy Graham, who valued what Duvall had done with the movie.
