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The Tender Bar
Despite solid direction from Oscar winner George Clooney, 2021's The Tender Bar, is only about two thirds of the cinematic experience it was meant to be as the screenplay meanders a little too much before reaching a solid climax.
This is the story of a young boy named JR who is being raised by his single mom, who move sin with his grandfather after he and Mom are deserted by his father, a radio disc jockey only known as "the voice", who JR has never actually met. JR and his mom are taken in by the family, with JR getting special attention from his Uncle Charlie (Oscar winner Ben Affleck), who has taken JR under his wing, despite the fact that he hates his brother. JR flourishes under his new surrogate father as the both try to put their relationship with "the voice" behind them.
The screenplay William Monaghan (who makes a cameo appearance in the film) is based on the memoir of J.R. Moehringer, that establishes immediate sympathy for young JR as we realizes that this child has not only grown up without a father and that said father seems to have no remorse about it. One of the most fascinating scenes in the film is when JR's dad comes and picks him up for a ride, after promising to take him to a baseball game the previous day and standing the boy up. We're amazed at his lack of feeling about the boy during this scene which increases when we realize that "the voice" pretty much disappears from the boy's life for a lot of the remaining screentime.
The movie then flashes forward to JR's college years at Yale, where the movie begins to lose me. JR's years aren't as interesting as the first half of the film, including an underdeveloped romance with a black girl. The film bounces back for a strong finale, but the middle section definitely begins to sag in the center and slow the film down.
Clooney gets strong points for the 70's atmosphere he sets up in terms of settings and music, not to mention some strong performances. Affleck hasn't been this good since Hollywoodland and both Daniel Ranieri and Tye Sheridan score as the young and older JR. Clooney's work is impressive, but it's only about two thirds of a really good movie.
Despite solid direction from Oscar winner George Clooney, 2021's The Tender Bar, is only about two thirds of the cinematic experience it was meant to be as the screenplay meanders a little too much before reaching a solid climax.
This is the story of a young boy named JR who is being raised by his single mom, who move sin with his grandfather after he and Mom are deserted by his father, a radio disc jockey only known as "the voice", who JR has never actually met. JR and his mom are taken in by the family, with JR getting special attention from his Uncle Charlie (Oscar winner Ben Affleck), who has taken JR under his wing, despite the fact that he hates his brother. JR flourishes under his new surrogate father as the both try to put their relationship with "the voice" behind them.
The screenplay William Monaghan (who makes a cameo appearance in the film) is based on the memoir of J.R. Moehringer, that establishes immediate sympathy for young JR as we realizes that this child has not only grown up without a father and that said father seems to have no remorse about it. One of the most fascinating scenes in the film is when JR's dad comes and picks him up for a ride, after promising to take him to a baseball game the previous day and standing the boy up. We're amazed at his lack of feeling about the boy during this scene which increases when we realize that "the voice" pretty much disappears from the boy's life for a lot of the remaining screentime.
The movie then flashes forward to JR's college years at Yale, where the movie begins to lose me. JR's years aren't as interesting as the first half of the film, including an underdeveloped romance with a black girl. The film bounces back for a strong finale, but the middle section definitely begins to sag in the center and slow the film down.
Clooney gets strong points for the 70's atmosphere he sets up in terms of settings and music, not to mention some strong performances. Affleck hasn't been this good since Hollywoodland and both Daniel Ranieri and Tye Sheridan score as the young and older JR. Clooney's work is impressive, but it's only about two thirds of a really good movie.