Direction: George Clooney
Country: USA
George Clooney’s The Tender Bar was adapted from the 2005 best-selling memoir of the same name by J.R. Moehringer, recounting the American journalist and novelist's first twenty years on Long Island. Through this new effort, Clooney aspires to hit a curve ball he has been missing since 2005 with Good Night, and Good Luck. He only succeeds here due to the immense charisma of Tye Sheridan (Mud, 2012; Ready Player One, 2018), whose spontaneity as J.R. beats that of Ben Affleck (Gone Girl, 2014; Argo, 2012). The latter plays the protagonist’s cool bartender uncle with no brilliancy.
From a young age, J.R. (sensitively played by debutant Daniel Ranieri) struggles with the absence of his neglectful father (Max Martini), an alcoholic radio host. At 11, he and his mother, Dorothy (Lily Rabe), move into his insolent yet supporting grandfather (Christopher Lloyd)’s house. But it’s uncle Charlie (Affleck) who becomes the elected father-figure; whether at home or at the bar, he teaches him a few useful lessons for life.
The film, carried out with a generically feel-good posture despite J.R.’s romantic and professional disillusions, needed more depth. I wish it could be crispier rather than softly chewy as its formulaic elements weave into a celebration of nostalgia. Nevertheless, this story denotes a tighter focus than Clooney’s previous effort, The Midnight Sky (2020), and manages to minimally connect at an emotional level. Even with its unsurprising plot oscillating continuously, the result is an optimistic and sympathetic film made stronger by an irresistibly gleaming 1970s soundtrack.
