Review of The Tender Bar

I really enjoyed this movie. Can't really say why, it just has that nifty, down home atmosphere that comes with lower and middle class values that eventually show up in the the progression of youth to adulthood. It's also a nostalgic look back in time to the Seventies and Eighties with a complementary sidetrack invoking songs from the era that fit the tenor of the story. A big surprise here is Ben Affleck portraying bar owner and all around wise man as Uncle Charlie to young JR (Daniel Ranieri), and later, the college bound youth (Tye Sheridan) that JR grows into. Uncle Charlie is the kind of presence you can relate to without being overbearing or annoying. And for a working stiff, he's a generous guy, handing young JR an autographed Tom Seaver baseball, and after he graduates, his very own first car to take him out on life's highway. Side stories of JR's unrequited first love come into play without being mawkish, and the harrowed relationship with his own father (Max Martini) is finally resolved with a cutting of the cord that proves his own maturity and independence.

Uncle Charlie's best advice to JR - 'take Philosophy, there's no right answer'. Did I say I enjoyed this movie? I loved it!