As "The Tender Bar" (2021 release; 104 min.) opens, a young boy (named J. R.) and his mom are moving back into her parents' house on Long Island in 1973. Also living is the house is Uncle Charlie, the brother of The Absent Father who is a DJ on a New York Top-40s station. Uncle Charlie runs a bar, the Dickens, where everybody knows your name... At this point we are 10 min into the movie.
Couple of comments: this is the latest film directed by George Clooney (he doesn't star in it). Here he adapts the memoir of the same name from J. R. Moehringer for the silver screen. I haven't read the memoir and hence cannot comment how closely the film sticks to the underlying book. But I can say this: the movie is warm and pleasant, yet utterly straightforward without any major tension to speak of. The movie could've been called "The Absent Father" as that theme play prominently. But it also could've been called "The Wonder Years Meet Cheers", as the film more than remind of both TV shows. In fact, it feels derivative of both. Ben Affleck is fine as Uncle Charlie. Christopher Lloyd is Grandpa. Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One") is J. R. as a teenager/college kid. But most noteworthy is Briana Middleton, making her film debut as Sydney, J. R.'s love interest in college. Surely we have not seen the last of her. Also noteworthy is Daniel Ranieri as the 9 yr old J. R. The movie opens with Golden Earring's "Radar Love" blasting from the car radio, and it is just the first of many, many song placements from the early and mid 70s. If you are a certain age, it will all come back to you in a flash.
"The Tender Bar" premiered at the London Film Festival last Fall, and was given a very limited US theatrical run in December. It just started streaming this weekend on Amazon Prime, where I caught it. If you are in the mood for a pleasant if utterly predictable coming-of-age film that is a derivative mix of "The Wonder Years" and "Cheers", I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest film directed by George Clooney (he doesn't star in it). Here he adapts the memoir of the same name from J. R. Moehringer for the silver screen. I haven't read the memoir and hence cannot comment how closely the film sticks to the underlying book. But I can say this: the movie is warm and pleasant, yet utterly straightforward without any major tension to speak of. The movie could've been called "The Absent Father" as that theme play prominently. But it also could've been called "The Wonder Years Meet Cheers", as the film more than remind of both TV shows. In fact, it feels derivative of both. Ben Affleck is fine as Uncle Charlie. Christopher Lloyd is Grandpa. Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One") is J. R. as a teenager/college kid. But most noteworthy is Briana Middleton, making her film debut as Sydney, J. R.'s love interest in college. Surely we have not seen the last of her. Also noteworthy is Daniel Ranieri as the 9 yr old J. R. The movie opens with Golden Earring's "Radar Love" blasting from the car radio, and it is just the first of many, many song placements from the early and mid 70s. If you are a certain age, it will all come back to you in a flash.
"The Tender Bar" premiered at the London Film Festival last Fall, and was given a very limited US theatrical run in December. It just started streaming this weekend on Amazon Prime, where I caught it. If you are in the mood for a pleasant if utterly predictable coming-of-age film that is a derivative mix of "The Wonder Years" and "Cheers", I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it on Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.