THE TENDER BAR: 3 ½ STARS
There are many life lessons in 鈥淭he Tender Bar,鈥� a new, easygoing drama starring Ben Affleck based on the life of journalist and author J.R. Moehringer, and now streaming on Amazon Prime. Set in and around The Dickens, a bar named after the author of "David Copperfield," barstool wisdom about the value of books, education, taking care of your mother and 鈥渘ot keeping money like a drunk" in the front pocket of your shirt, abounds.
The story begins in 1973 on Long Island. 鈥淩adar Love鈥� by Golden Earring plays out of the car radio and the impressionable J.R. (played as a youngster by Daniel Ranieri) lives with his mom Dorothy (Lily Rabe) and cranky grandfather (Christopher Lloyd). His father, a radio DJ nicknamed The Voice (Max Martini), isn鈥檛 in the picture.
J.R.鈥檚 father figure is Uncle Charlie (Affleck), a charming bookworm and owner of The Dickens. He is a font of advice, all of which J.R. soaks up "the male sciences" like a sponge. Charlie鈥檚 instructions range from the pragmatic 鈥� never order bar scotch neat 鈥� to the ideological 鈥� he urges J.R. to study philosophy. "You always do well in that class,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause there鈥檚 no right answers."
Charlie鈥檚 guidance and the colourful regulars who populate the bar, like Bobo (Michael Braun) and Joey D (Matthew Delamater), help form J.R.鈥檚 young life. "When you're 11 years old,鈥� he says, 鈥測ou want an Uncle Charlie."
Cut to a decade later.
J.R., having inherited his Uncle Charlie鈥檚 love of storytelling and words, is a student at Yale, studying law, but with aspirations to be a writer. Now played by Tye Sheridan, he falls in love with Sidney (Briana Middleton), a smart, 鈥渓ower upper middle class鈥� schoolmate who gives J.R. another lesson in heartbreak.
鈥淭he Tender Bar鈥� is a low key coming-of-age story that works best when it has a glass in front of it. That is to say, when it concentrates on The Dickens and the life lessons young J.R. absorbs at the bar, those scenes have a lovely nostalgic feel. Director George Clooney vividly recreates a time when 10 year olds were sent to the local corner bar to by a pack of cigarettes for grandpa. Clooney sets the stage, but it is the actors who bring it to life.
As Affleck settles into the character actor phase of his career, he鈥檚 doing some of his best work. His Uncle Charlie has an effortless charm, a fierce intellect and is a bit of a scoundrel. It鈥檚 a performance that feels perfectly shaped and worn in, like an old baseball glove.
The scenes Affleck shares with Ranieri provide the film鈥檚 highlights. The young actor, making his film debut, brings genuine curiosity to J.R., a kid who has been knocked around. but always has his eyes to the future. It鈥檚 a delightful performance. Sheridan nicely mirrors the character as a young adult, but it is Ranieri who makes us care about J.R.
鈥淭he Tender Bar鈥� is a nicely crafted, circumspect look at J.R.鈥檚 life. The stakes feel low and big dramatic moments are few and far between, but this textured look at the importance of community, including the drunks at the bar, in the formative stages of J.R.鈥檚 life is an understated winner.
THE LOST DAUGHTER: 4 STARS
"Children are a crushing responsibility," says Leda (Olivia Coleman) in the opening moments of 鈥淭he Lost Daughter,鈥� a new drama directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal now streaming on Netflix. She is sunny in her delivery of the line, but for Leda, the words have real weight. Based on a novel by Elena Ferrante and adapted for the screen by Gyllenhaal, this is an unsentimental tale of motherhood.
The film begins with 48-year-old literary professor Leda on a working vacation on a picturesque Greek Island. She is a self-described selfish person looking for some peace and quiet but between the attentions of caretaker Lyle (Ed Harris) and the chipper Irish student Will (Paul Mescal), she gets little of either.
Then there is Callie (Dagmara Domi艅czyk), a pregnant woman who demands Leda leave a spot on the beach so her family can spread out. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e bad people,鈥� says a local.
Callie is annoying but Leda becomes transfixed by her sister Nina (Dakota Johnson), a mom struggling to parent her young daughter Elena (Athena Martin).
Leda becomes consumed by memories of her time raising her daughters Bianca and Martha. But they aren鈥檛 happy memories plucked from a baby book. Twenty years ago, she was an 鈥渦nnatural mother鈥� who cared more for her work and an extramarital affair with fellow academic Professor Hardy (Peter Sarsgaard) than her kids.
Flashing to-and-fro from present day to two decades past, where Leda is played by the great Jessie Buckley, the story fleshes out a portrait of a woman harboring deep regret for her past actions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like I鈥檝e been trying not to explode,鈥� Leda says, 鈥渁nd then I exploded.鈥�
"The Lost Daughter" is a promising debut behind the camera for Gyllenhaal. She ably handles the parallel stories, past and present, bring them together to paint a full portrait of the complex character that is Leda. She is a very different person in the film's two halves and Gyllenhaal allows us to follow along by keeping it simple. The story is rich and textured, and asks more questions than it answers, but it isn鈥檛 cluttered with unnecessary details. The film's true gift is to trust the viewer with its characters, to treat them as flawed people without tarting up the story with unbelievable twists or turns. It is self-assured storytelling, buoyed by wonderful performances from Coleman, Johnson and Buckley, who bring intelligence and, most importantly, humanity to characters who are not always likeable.
JUNE AGAIN: 3 STARS
鈥淛une Again,鈥� a new dramedy starring Australian acting legend Noni Hazlehurst, is a heartfelt story that reverses the plot of the 1990 drama 鈥淎wakenings.鈥� That movie focused on the work of Dr. Malcolm Sayer, played by Robin Williams, a neurologist who discovers a way to awaken catatonic patients who survived the 1917鈥�1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica.
鈥淛une Again鈥� is a different spin, but highlights some of the same questions. The new film focusses on the patient. June (Hazlehurst), is a 60-something woman with vascular dementia brought on by a stroke. Like the people in 鈥淎wakenings,鈥� she suddenly regains her memory after a years-long lapse, and finds herself in a much different world than the one she left behind.
Her doctor tells her that 鈥渄ementia isn鈥檛 a disease that just goes away. This lucidity you are experiencing will be temporary. A Few hours if we鈥檙e lucky.鈥� They want her to stay put in the dementia ward, but she has other ideas. She escapes, flags a cab and returns to her old life, or whatever is left of it. For June, it鈥檚 as if the last five years never happened, but life has moved on.
Her high-end, handcrafted wallpaper store, is in shambles, her son Devon (Stephen Curry) dropped out of school and got divorced, daughter Ginny (Claudia Karvan) lets her husband and kids walk all over her and grandson Piers (Otis Dhanji) has been badly injured in an accident. 鈥淚s there anything that hasn鈥檛 fallen apart in this family?鈥� June asks. 鈥淚 think I came back just in time.鈥� With the clock ticking and an unsure future, June begins a new lease on life.
鈥淛une Again鈥� finds the balance between drama and humour in its examination of June鈥檚 rebirth. The question of her dementia is treated respectfully, but not with kid gloves. June is a gritty character, who toggles between lucidity and confusion, but Hazlehurst embodies her. She creates a vivid portrait of the person June once was and the woman she is now. It is a feisty, but sensitive performance with edge and heart.
There is a lot going on in 鈥淛une Again.鈥� A mother and daughter subplot dominates the film鈥檚 middle, while family dynamics and June鈥檚 fragile grip on current events keep the story moving forward. There are moments of emotional manipulation, but the strong cast, particularly Hazlehurst and Karvan, defy stereotypes and subvert the movie鈥檚 more predictable twists.
