First Gene Hackman, and now, almost exactly a year later, Robert Duvall.
Duvall died Feb. 15 at age 95, the same age Hackman was when he died on Feb. 18, 2025. The former roommates (along with Dustin Hoffman) shared much more in common. Both were character actors who became leading men. Both gave some of the greatest performances in some of the greatest movies from the 1960s-1990s. And both made it look easy.
I was lucky enough to interview Duvall when “The Apostle,” which he directed and starred in, came out in 1997. My colleague and friend John Black (one of the funniest people on the planet) and I met with Duvall in a Boston hotel room, and as we sat around a table, it could have been three guys drinking beer and talking about movies. No beers were actually consumed, but it was that casual.
Duvall, wearing a black jacket, spoke openly about a variety of subjects, including his “Apostle” co-stars Farrah Fawcett and Miranda Richardson. He expressed concern and frustration over Fawcett’s frequent trips to the bathroom during filming and extolled the exceptional talent of British actress Richardson. (He added that Richardson seemed distant on set, and he was disappointed that he didn’t get to know her better.)
Robert Duvall stars in “The Apostle.” (October Films)
“The Apostle” was clearly a labor of love for Duvall. In it he plays a Texas preacher, Sonny Dewey, who, after beating his wife’s lover with a baseball bat, evades the law and relocates to the Louisiana bayou, where he starts another church.
One of the perks of my job has been that I’ve been able to meet artists I admire, like Duvall, and sometimes to express how much their work means to me – not fawning, but with genuine appreciation.
As it happened, I loved “The Apostle,” and at one point I told him why. Most movies, I said, depicted Christian leaders as hypocrites and/or child molesters, and I found it refreshing, if not ground-breaking, for a film, like his, to suggest that just because a preacher was an extremely flawed person didn’t mean his faith wasn’t sincere.
Duvall smiled, nodded, and with an appreciative chuckle said, simply, “Right on.”
Duvall earned one of his seven Oscar nominations for his performance as Dewey (he lost to Jack Nicholson for “As Good as It Gets’). He won the Oscar once, for “Tender Mercies” (1983), another film in which he was extraordinary.
Here are 10 films featuring my favorite Duvall performances, leaving out memorable work in “Network,” “The Great Santini,” “The Natural” and so many other films.
1. “The Apostle” (1997). Duvall delivers a rip-roaring portrayal of a Southern preacher, but what’s so powerful is the way he delves into the character’s genuine faith as expressed in private moments.
2. “Tender Mercies” (1983). Duvall won a well-deserved Oscar for his beautiful, understated portrayal of country singer Mac Sledge, who seeks to repair the personal damage done by his alcoholism.
3. “Lonesome Dove” (1989). Actually, this is a miniseries, not a feature film, but so what? Easygoing yet tough former Texas Ranger Capt. Augustus “Gus” McCrae was reportedly Duvall’s favorite of his characters, and for good reason. Based on a Larry McMurtry novel, the series is a must for Western and/or Duvall fans.
Duvall appears as Tom Hagen in “The Godfather” saga. (Paramount Pictures)
4-5. “The Godfather” (1972)/“The Godfather, Part 2” (1974). While Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan chew up the scenery (in a good way) in Francis Ford Coppola’s Mafia family saga, Duvall often steals his scenes – and provides another master class in acting – by underplaying his role as Tom Hagen, reserved consigliare and adoptive son of New York mob boss Don Corleone (Brando).
6. “Apocalypse Now” (1979). Back with Coppola in an epic psychological drama set during the Vietnam War, Duvall is electric as surf-loving, larger-than-life Lt. Col. William “Bill” Kilgore, who declares one of the most famous – Infamous? – lines in movie history: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning!”
7. “True Confessions” (1981). In this lurid film noir loosely based on the (unsolved) 1947 Black Dahlia killing, Duvall plays homicide Detective Tom Spellacy, who doggedly pursues a case involving murder, corruption and conspiracy in 1948 Los Angeles. Robert DeNiro co-stars as Tom’s brother, a priest who might be involved. The two Roberts are magnificent together.
8. “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962). Hey, Boo! Duvall made his film debut as the reclusive neighbor Boo Radley in this sublime adaptation of the Harper Lee novel. It’s a small role in terms of screen time, but, without delivering a word, Duvall is stunningly poignant.
9. “Get Low” (2009). One of Duvall’s lesser-known films – probably because it’s so low-key – it’s nevertheless one of his best. It stars the actor as Felix Bush, a hermit who decides to hold his own funeral party while he’s still alive. Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek co-star.
10. “The Outfit” (1973). The most offbeat choice on this list, this B-movie, perfect for drive-in viewing, stars Duvall as one of his most hardboiled characters, Eddie Macklin, an ex-con who goes to war with a mob out to kill him. Among the top-notch supporting cast: Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Karen Black, Timothy Carey, Sheree North and Elisha Cook Jr.
** Click here for Tim Miller’s previous movie columns for Cape Cod Wave **
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Tim Miller
Tim Miller is co-president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a Tomatometer-approved critic. He teaches film and journalism at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or follow him onTwitter @TimMillerCritic. Or you can ignore him completely.
