Lightweight dramedy is maybe too enjoyable

Photo | “The Tender Bar” – Big Indie Pictures

“The Tender Bar” is a heartwarming coming-of-age story peopled by quirky losers dispensing wisdom. It is full of lighthearted lessons and predictable, low-stakes developments. My main complaint with “The Tender Bar” is it was possibly too enjoyable. George Clooney directed Ben Affleck in this adaptation of a memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer about a boy who is abandoned by his father and is raised by his mother and her large family instead. He particularly idolizes his Uncle Charlie (Affleck), a self-educated raconteur who runs a bar called The Dickens. 

The film idolizes Uncle Charlie, too. This part feels perfect for Affleck, all chin and common sense, laying out rules of manliness he calls “the male sciences.” Like the film itself, these rules, while technically good rules, are pretty obvious and easy to agree with, like “don’t ever hit a woman.” Yes, obviously, thanks Ben, but maybe the movie could have gone a little further. 

“The Tender Bar” was good enough, but it wasn’t great, despite its potential. The possible depth for certain subjects seemed obvious to me, but it never went there, and I’m now wondering if the book, which I haven’t read, did go deeper. The biggest omission, which is odd for a movie called “The Tender BAR,” was alcoholism. 

J.R.’s absent father, known in the film as “The Voice” because he was a radio DJ and his son only heard his disembodied voice and rarely saw him in person, is called to account for his drinking problem. All the other characters get a free pass. All the good guys are problem drinkers, too, and I kept thinking the story was going to be about that and it wasn’t. At one point, Uncle Charlie mentions to J.R. he should cut back a bit, and that is that.

The little boy who plays young J.R., Daniel Ranieri, was delightful, while young adult J.R. is portrayed by Tye Sheridan (“Ready Player One”) with sufficient conviction. The supporting cast of quirky bar flies fills in the story amusingly, and we even get a somewhat underused Christopher Lloyd as the irascible Grandpa. Everyone was good, but no one was great. 

The soundtrack of feel-good oldies was aggressively ingratiating, and most damningly, there was voiceover narration from the fully grown J.R. And the voiceover told us J.R. became a writer as soon as Uncle Charlie told him he was. If you have ever tried to cut back on drinking or become a writer, then you already know that having an uncle simply speak the words won’t cut it. It doesn’t matter how cool that uncle is. 

To be clear, Affleck is indeed cool, handsome and fun to watch as Uncle Charlie, and this is indeed a feel-good movie. But the laughs and tears were too easily won to mean very much. If we define a “chick flick” as a movie that is inherently appealing to females because of some kind of feminine qualities, then this might be the male equivalent of a chick flick — it makes men feel good about themselves. If Uncle Charlie and J.R. can be that flawed yet that successful, loveable and cool, then maybe everyone can. 

I enjoyed watching this flick and I don’t know why I’m being so hard on it now. I was swept up in the charm of it maybe, but upon reflection, there was not much depth. Plus there was voiceover, a lazy shortcut to thematic relevance that was particularly unnecessary here. “The Tender Bar” is a lightweight dramedy that handles familiar terrain with a good cast that could have easily handled more challenging material.

“The Tender Bar” is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

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“Redeeming Love”: This highly anticipated film is based on the bestselling novel by Francine Rivers. It tells the powerful story of relentless love and perseverance as a young couple’s relationship clashes with the harsh realities of the California Gold Rush of 1850. All multiplex theaters, Nexus Cinema Dining.