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.
"Between the ones who love you and the ones who leave you is the journey of a lifetime."
Top Billed 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
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
R r96skVerified TMDB Critic
2022-03-16
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...
C CinemaSerfVerified TMDB Critic
2022-03-27
It's not often I find myself writing this, but Ben Affleck is comfortably the best thing about this otherwise rather lacklustre adaptation of JR Moehringer's autobiographical coming of age tale. It depicts the story of his childhood - through the eyes of the engaging young Daniel Ranieri - before he heads to Yale in the guise of Tye Sheridan. The first half hour, maybe, is quite entertaining. This young lad living with his mother (his selfish father is estranged from them, living the mobile life of a late night radio talk show host) in the home of his mildly eccentric grandfather (Christopher ...
T tmdb28039023Verified TMDB Critic
2022-08-28
This film, written by William Monahan and directed by George Clooney on autopilot is yet another shallow glimpse into the formative years of an wannabe writer. This is hardly virgin territory, having already been thoroughly covered by the likes of Unstrung Heroes, Almost Famous, and Neil Simon’s ‘Eugene Trilogy’, to mention but a few examples.
J.R. Maguire (Daniel Ranieri, Tye Sheridan), based on American novelist and journalist J. R. Moehringer, grows up in an eccentric family straight from Central Casting — we have the long-suffering single mother, the deadbeat dad, the curmudgeon...
