LM23 Rating: A meandering mess save for Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck is one of those artists who unfortunately the drama of their private lives has come to overshadow their talent. You forget that Ben Affleck was in movies like Good Will Hunting, The Town, and Argo. And oh right, he’s even directed some great movies and won some Oscars. This time, it’s another actor who seems to be more famous for being famous who is the director and Ben Affleck is just the actor.
George Clooney directs The Tender Bar which is another one of those self-indulgent autobiographical little films that relies very heavily on its character actors and story. I’ve seen so many commercials for this that I admit I didn’t want to bother with it because the movie title makes me want to vomit. I don’t know why but maybe it’s the word “tender.” I hate that word.
Anyway, I was surprised to see the film was available on Prime Video, so I thought I’d give it a go. From what I can remember, the movie is about a little boy named JR (which a running gag is he doesn’t know what his initials stand for) who ends up living with his paternal grandfather (Christopher Lloyd) when his mom (Lily Rabe) falls ill with cancer. Also living at the home is JR’s uncle, Charlie (Ben Affleck). Charlie also happens to own a bar named The Dickens. As this film is set in the late 70’s/early 80’s, it’s definitely not a problem that 11-year-old JR hangs out in his uncle’s bar and buys his grandpa his cigarettes.
The film starts off with some promise. The dynamic between the family members is believable and interesting. The cool uncle Charlie isn’t too in your face about how cool and full of street smart wisdom he is. I think a lot of people have an uncle like Charlie who is either not married or is more well off than their own parents and who steps in to fill in those financial and emotional gaps when needed. Although what I didn’t quite understand about this movie was JR’s motivation to attend an Ivy League college like Harvard or Yale. His mom is insistent that JR go to school as her own father didn’t encourage her. We’re never really told why his mom wants him to go to Yale or Harvard. Like what is the context of these two schools beyond they’re Ivy League? Did she want to attend these schools? There’s no explanation about why it’s so important that JR get into one of these schools.
What was also missing was we didn’t quite see JR’s academic journey in getting there. There were several scenes of JR typing away at a typewriter, so we get that he’s some sort of writer. But these scenes are all done in isolation. We don’t see him scoring the straight A’s or winning the writing awards that make you foresee his successful admission to Yale. We don’t see him compete with other kids for a place at a fancy college. I know this movie was set a long time ago, but I’m certain the competition to get into a good school was just as intense as it was back then as it is today.
It was extra confusing when the little boy suddenly becomes a high school senior. Sure, I wasn’t really paying too close attention to the movie, but I’m certain there was no gradual switch in time when the 11-year-old suddenly became an 18 year-old. The time change brings us to the family kitchen where Uncle Charlie and the rest of the family are gathered to open up the admissions letter from Yale. There’s really no anticipation or momentum for this moment. Charlie gets in all is good. We don’t even see the anxiety of being able to afford going to Yale, just that JR is told his financial aid has been approved.
The movie then meanders where we see JR go off to school. He meets new people including a girl he randomly falls in love with. Why does he love her so much? We don’t know why. The film portrays the two as seemingly older than they are. The two kids are what like 18 or 19? And they’re talking and acting in scenes like they’re two grown adults with jobs.
The problem with The Tender Bar is that there’s no through line to the movie. It starts off as a coming of age like story, but it just ends up being a bunch of random memories of when a guy made his way to Yale. The movie is based on a memoir by J.R. Moehringer, so perhaps the book tells a better and believable story than the movie.
We’re introduced to Uncle Charlie, the family, and the guys at the bar as if they’re all going to be really integral to the film, but then they all kind of disappear and don’t really have any input into J.R.’s life after he opens the letter from Yale.
It would’ve been better to see how J.R. continues to keep in touch with his lower class roots while he tries to find his way at an elite university. The film takes another bizarre turn with no warning when J.R. just happens to get a job at The New York Times.
Ben Affleck and Lily Rabe are the only good parts of The Tender Bar. The movie may have been even better if it was from Uncle Charlie’s point of view. It would be far more interesting to see how he ended up still living at his father’s house despite owning and operating his own bar. Despite all his wisdom, Uncle Charlie didn’t end up having his own family, yet is generous enough to help his sister go to chemo and take care of her son as if he were his own. It would be a much more interesting story to see how the brother and sister grew up like and how they came to be as adults.
Buy yeah, I would skip this movie.
Kommentarer