Film Snail

6.6

The Tender Bar

R·2021·104m

Drama

Summary

JR is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — JR begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams, with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Cast

Ben Affleck

Charlie Maguire

Tye Sheridan

JR Maguire

Daniel Ranieri

Young JR Maguire

Lily Rabe

Dorothy Maguire

Christopher Lloyd

Grandpa Maguire

Max Martini

The Voice, JR's father

Rhenzy Feliz

Wesley

Briana Middleton

Sidney

Max Casella

Chief

Sondra James

Grandma Maguire

Michael Braun

Bobo

Matthew Delamater

Joey D

Ivan Leung

Jimmy

Danielle Ranieri

Aunt Ruth

Kate Avallone

Kathy

Mark Boyett

Sidney's Dad

Quincy Tyler Bernstine

Sidney's Mom

Ezra Knight

Professor Van Dyke

David Carl

School Psychologist

Shannon Collis

Pat

Keira Jo Lassor

Kathy's Daughter

Jennifer C. Johnson

Mrs. Williams

Michael Steven Costello

NYT Editor

Kate Middleton

NYT Personnel Woman

Jackson Damon

NYT Copyboy

Caroline Bergwall

NYT Copygirl

Daniel Washington

Officer James

Jenny Eagan

Chief's Wife

Steve Gagliastro

Other Customer

Annabella Valle

Aunt Ruth's Kid #1

Clara Kelly

Aunt Ruth's Kid #2

Meara Mahoney Gross

Aunt Ruth's Kid #3

Ron Livingston

Future JR Maguire (voice only)

Jack Baumrind

Kid in Classroom (uncredited)

Julia Bechler

Dickens Bar Regular (uncredited)

Keith R. Beck

Yale Student (uncredited)

Alissa Bourne

Dickens Bar Patron (uncredited)

Crew

Director

George Clooney

Book

J.R. Moehringer

Screenplay

William Monahan

Reviews

r96sk

March 16, 2022

So very plain.

To be honest: I found <em>'The Tender Bar'</em> to be a bore. I felt like I had seen this film before, such is the predictable and monotonous nature of the story. It almost felt like a (poorer) rerun of 2020's <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/hillbilly-elegy/" rel="nofollow">Hillbilly Elegy</a>'</em>.

I will say, though, that Ben Affleck gives a very good performance in this, to the point that I actually would've liked to have seen a story revolving around him and his character - as opposed to who this 2021 flick is about. Aside from Affleck, I didn't care for any of the other performances and therefore any of the other characters.

It's not even a bad film, it's just so, so boring - for me, anyway.