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Every year, Award Season brings a flood of new movies that are proclaimed must-sees. It’s the time when big-name actors walk the red carpet with big-name directors at the premiers of their highly-buzzed award-contending dramas. Some of those films live up to the hype, while others, like director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar quickly fade into the background.
The Tender Bar tells the story of JR (Daniel Ranieri), a young boy who moves with his mother (Lily Rabe) back to the family home on Long Island. Though he often listens to the radio to hear the voice of his absentee dad, a popular DJ, the closest thing JR has to a real father figure is his uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), who runs a bar called The Dickens. And as he grows, attends Yale, and begins a writing career, a grown JR (Tye Sheridan) relies on Charlie’s guidance and support.
As the film follows JR from the transition to living with his family in his grandfather’s noisy, bustling home to chasing his college dreams (and the girl of his dreams) and beyond, it tells a charming coming-of-age story about growing up and finding your our own way—but it seems completely lacking in direction.
When it comes to bringing a memoir to the screen, it definitely takes some revising and editing. You can’t tell all of the story—but the parts of the story that were chosen here seem strange. The development is surprisingly light, giving some of the more interesting characters—like JR’s mom and his outspoken grandpa (Christopher Lloyd)—surprisingly little attention. Suddenly, then, it skips from the character’s youth to his young adulthood—with no mention of anything that happened in between. And instead of focusing on his maturing and facing the pain of his past, it spends most of its time focusing on his obsession with a college classmate.
Really, it’s no surprise that Ben Affleck’s character is the highlight of this film. Uncle Charlie is a wise and lovable scamp who takes his lonely nephew under his wing. It’s an effortless performance for Affleck, and he gives the film most of its energy—but he just isn’t given enough to work with.
Somewhere in here, there’s a story about understanding yourself and figuring out what matters in life. But it all feels so hazy and unfocused that you’ll find it hard to remember much about it the day after you watch it.
You can find The Tender Bar in theaters nationwide starting on December 22, 2021. Or watch it on Amazon Prime Video starting on January 7, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
