The Tender Bar

So very plain.

To be honest: I found 'The Tender Bar' 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 '<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/hillbilly-elegy/" rel="nofollow">Hillbilly Elegy</a>'.

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 of the other performances and therefore any of the other characters.

It's not even a bad film, it's just so, so boring - for me, anyway.

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 Lloyd) and their home is a lively, buzzing environment in which the youngster thrives. Chief amongst the residents is his charismatic, worldly-wise un...

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 Simons 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 curmudgeonly grandfather with a secret heart of gold, and the cool uncle who doubles as a father figure. The only thing, and its nothing to sneeze at, that The Tender Bar h...