The Tender Bar (2021) Movie Review
The Tender Bar is directed by George Clooney and is based on the memoir by J.R. Moehringer. It tells the story of his life in Long Island beginning with his time as a young boy. Young J.R. (Daniel Ranieri) and his mother (Lily Rabe) hit some hard times and have to move in with J.R. ‘s grandpa (Christopher Lloyd). As it turns out, many people have to live with the surly grandpa so there’s a cast of rotating people in and out of the house. One staple in the house is Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck) who works at a bar. J.R. begins spending a lot of time with Charlie at the bar, seemingly in search of a father figure. His real father is an alcoholic DJ who hasn’t really ever been there for J.R. or his mother. Charlie is a better stand in for a father and J.R. admires him greatly.
His childhood is unconventional but he’s smart and capable and he winds up getting into Yale. The older J.R. (Tye Sheridan) has to navigate getting used by a girl he’s in love with and his first heartbreak. But he goes on to work at The New York Times as a young journalist and if you’re familiar with J.R. Moehringer we know he becomes a Pulitzer-winning author. I haven’t read Moehringer’s book but the movie is a slog to get through. The first half is absolutely the most entertaining bit, largely because Ranieri is so compelling. He fills up the screen with his curious face and his childhood views on life are interesting enough to watch. Ben Affleck is wonderful as Uncle Charlie and his chemistry with Ranieri is undeniable.
But the movie begins to struggle when Sheridan takes over J.R. duties. His performance falls a bit flat and he almost seems bored by his own performance and the material. Plus, Affleck isn’t in it nearly as much in the second half and the movie suffers because of it. George Clooney doesn’t add anything as the director but that could have been because of the lack of anything interesting in the story. We’ve all seen and heard this story before. A young boy grows up with no father but with an otherwise caring family and defies expectations by getting into an Ivy League university and having a successful writing career. In another director’s hands, perhaps something new could have been explored but Clooney doesn’t bring any new messages to the table.
The Tender Bar is one of those frustrating movies that starts off pretty well but tapers off about halfway through. The loss of Affleck and Ranieri for the second half of the movie stunted what little life The Tender Bar had. I’m sure Moehringer’s life was more interesting than this, if only the movie had been able to capture it.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You want to see Ben Affleck in one of his best roles
2. You like movies based on memoirs
3. You like movies about underdogs
