By Tom Jozwik
“The Tender Bar” describes the place where central character J.R. does much of his growing up under the tutelage of his tavern owner uncle and the uncle’s customer buddies.
J.R. (Daniel Ranieri as a child, Tye Sheridan as a young adult) may be this movie’s protagonist, but, as his Uncle Charlie, Ben Affleck steals the show. The film, based on journalist J.R. Moehringer’s similarly titled memoir from 2005, is directed by George Clooney who, rather uncharacteristically for the veteran director-actor, does not also appear in it.
Even without Clooney, the acting in “The Tender Bar” is more than satisfactory (never mind that none of its adult characters seems to age an iota over the movie’s 15-year span). Although too much time is spent on a moribund affair between J.R. and an egocentric Yale University classmate (Briana Middleton), the plot is decidedly engaging—if derivative and incomplete. One derivative aspect is a soundtrack loaded with period hits. The sense of incompleteness may owe to Clooney’s attempt to produce a very faithful adaptation of Moehringer’s set-in-the-1970s-and-’80s memoir, but I haven’t read the book and can’t say for sure.
In any case, the film left me with several nettlesome questions:
How does J.R., rejected for a New York Times reporting job, rebound to win a Pulitzer Prize and pen the bestseller on which this movie is based?
What becomes of the relatives with whom J.R. has shared a ramshackle Long Island home en route to adulthood—his grandfather (Christopher Lloyd), by turns eloquent-affectionate and crass-caustic; his ever-supportive mother (Lily Rabe), who’s battled kin as well as thyroid cancer; his worldly wise father figure Charlie, the gruff but golden-hearted barkeep and bibliophile with a health issue or two of his own?
And what about J.R.’s boozing blood father (Max Martini), whom J.R. knows—fortunately—far better as a radio voice than as a physical presence? When we last see this human time bomb he’s being arrested, apparently for battery; how is this sordid business resolved?
These questions could’ve, and should’ve, been answered in a brief epilogue. Even the most interesting stories need closure.
Rated R and running 1:44, “The Tender Bar” opens Dec. 22 in theaters and premiers Jan. 7 on Amazon Prime.