The Tender Bar

Name: The Tender Bar
Genre: Drama
Released: December 17, 2021
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 53
Cast: Anastasia Tsikhanava, Ben Affleck, Briana Middleton, Christopher Lloyd, Daniel Ranieri

2021

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 51 Ratings

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5.6

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5.6	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 51 Ratings

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The Tender Bar: Be Nice To Her

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Movie Details & Credits

Amazon Studios | Release Date: December 17, 2021 | R

Starring: Anastasia Tsikhanava, Ben Affleck, Briana Middleton, Christopher Lloyd, Daniel Ranieri, Kimberly Howe, Lily Rabe, Max Casella, Max Martini, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Rhenzy Feliz, Ron Livingston, Sondra James, Tye Sheridan

Movie Facts:

Streams on Prime Video beginning January 7, 2022.

Summary: J.R. (Tye Sheridan) is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother (Lily Rabe) struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave theJ.R. (Tye Sheridan) is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother (Lily Rabe) struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father (Christopher Lloyd) — J.R. begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams — with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.… Expand

Director: Burak Bayirli and George Clooney

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

Alan Ng

Dec 22, 2021

I liked The Tender Bar for its simple story and fantastic performances. But, honestly, it works best as a straight-to-streaming title, as it hits familiar beats and feels small in scope. Clooney has concocted cinematic comfort food. Read full review

Anthony Lane

Jan 10, 2022

The gist of the critical response has been that The Tender Bar follows a well-worn path. Fair enough, but is that such a sin? (You should try the new Matrix movie. Now, that’s worn.) What counts is the firmness of the tread, and Clooney sets a careful but unloitering pace. Read full review

Moira Macdonald

Dec 22, 2021

The movie isn’t terrible, but too often it feels Hollywood-bland; a missed opportunity, served neat. Read full review

Mark Kennedy

Dec 15, 2021

The Tender Bar is a gentle, oddly crafted but loving look at men, fueled by a soundtrack of classics like Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” and Steely Dan’s “Do It Again.” It’s a valentine to guys who step up. Read full review

Peter Travers

Jan 7, 2022

There’s nothing fresh or surprising about a boy coming of age with the help of his bartender uncle (Ben Affleck reminding us what a terrific actor he can be), but director George Clooney’s affection for the characters serves up a winning blend of laughs and tears. Read full review

The Playlist Rafaela Sales Ross

Oct 24, 2021

It is a shame that The Tender Bar never truly capitalizes on the quality of its few moments of comedic inspiration, leaning instead towards a melodrama doomed to be forever trapped in afternoon reruns. Read full review

Andrew Crump

Jan 7, 2022

As mired as it is in identity confusion, cheeseball sentimentality and jaundiced camera filters, The Tender Bar could’ve been something if it had a purpose. Read full review

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User Reviews

silviaebarber

Jan 7, 2022

I like this movie the story is Heartwarming. Ben Affleck is great. Go see this movie.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

alejandro970

Jan 21, 2022

As a biographical drama, it has its charm through its cast and a pace that is not tiring. Its Achilles heel is perhaps that it lacks something for the viewer to feel empathy towards the characters. The intention was good, of course, and it is not entirely lost.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

bfoore90

Jan 27, 2022

Saw this last night after work. This was a pleasant film with a great performance by Ben Affleck

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

WatchinMovies

Jan 9, 2022

It was a pleasant movie of a young boy and the quirky family, and adults, around him as he grows up. It was an average movie and Ben Affleck was good so I think a '6' makes is "pleasant". One can watch the movie and do other things at the same time.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Mauro_Lanari

Jan 8, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
The film's mood and feeling are enclosed in its final song, "Do It Again" by Steely Dan, an extraordinary track from 1972 albeit with a flaw: it lasts a little too much, doesn't have enough ideas to justify its duration. All the more reason the problem afflicts Clooney's 104(Mauro Lanari)
The film's mood and feeling are enclosed in its final song, "Do It Again" by Steely Dan, an extraordinary track from 1972 albeit with a flaw: it lasts a little too much, doesn't have enough ideas to justify its duration. All the more reason the problem afflicts Clooney's 104 minutes that seem an uninterrupted expression of the "current of tenderness" attributed by Freud to the latency stage, as if the protagonist's libido had remained fixed to it even after puberty and the onset of adult sexual activity. And Affleck's role as a paternal surrogate is the same one he had towards Damon in "Will Hunting".… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Brent_Marchant

Feb 9, 2022

Were it not for its fine period piece production values, its bouncy nostalgic soundtrack and a surprisingly good supporting performance by Ben Affleck, this coming of age memoir offers virtually nothing else engaging, noteworthy or memorable. This latest release from director George ClooneyWere it not for its fine period piece production values, its bouncy nostalgic soundtrack and a surprisingly good supporting performance by Ben Affleck, this coming of age memoir offers virtually nothing else engaging, noteworthy or memorable. This latest release from director George Clooney -- who really needs to spend more time in front of the camera than behind it -- tells the stunningly dull tale of an aspiring young writer who grows up in a largely dysfunctional Long Island family in the 1970s and '80s. Unfortunately, the film's cliche-ridden narrative is all over the map and wholly generic, presenting a collection of story threads that feels as if it's been selectively culled and sloppily stitched together from any number of other releases in this genre. What's more, a number of story elements and characters are introduced and subsequently dropped, leaving viewers hanging about what happened to them, while others are mercilessly revisited, prompting viewers to plead that the picture get on with itself already. Affleck's portrayal helps to keep the pace moving and modestly interesting at times, but, if it weren't for that, this would otherwise be a painfully tedious watch -- something it's not too far from to begin with. Growing up is generally more captivating than this, and a film about that process certainly should be as well.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

HannibalB

Jan 9, 2022

Generally good performances can't save this aimless, plotless, and boring movie. The casting is mystifying too because the main character doesn't remotely resemble himself at different ages, and makes one drastic change in ethnicity--and I don't think this was intentional. I felt like I'dGenerally good performances can't save this aimless, plotless, and boring movie. The casting is mystifying too because the main character doesn't remotely resemble himself at different ages, and makes one drastic change in ethnicity--and I don't think this was intentional. I felt like I'd see all this before, as if this movie were cobbled together from a dozen others.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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