The Tender Bar, George Clooney and Ben Affleck bring the feelings behind the counter

To educate a child it takes an entire village, says a famous African proverb. But sometimes a bar is enough. It is the story of The Tender bar, on Amazon Prime video from January 7 (after a quick passage in American cinemas). JR is a fatherless boy (not dead but a DJ in New York) who grows up among the patrons, the counter and the books of a bar (The Dickens) run by uncle Charlie, the best father figure (imperfect, but sincere) that could happen to him. His advice is harsh, but sincere. And they remain there to show him the way to go.

Behind the camera there is George Clooney, while in front we find a well-assorted cast: a wonderful one Christopher Lord as a grumpy (and loud) grandfather; Lily Rabe, in the role of the mother; And Ben Affleck, aka Uncle Charlie / mentor to his best role ever. JR, on the other hand, has the face first of Daniel Ranieri and then, more adult, of Tye Sheridan.

The film is based on the autobiographical novel The bar of high hopes by American writer (and Pulitzer Prize winner) JR Moehringer, specialized in bio of famous people (from Open by André Agassi to the profile of Prince Harry, who he is working on now), who grew up (really) in a bar on Long Island. It was Uncle Charlie who made him want to write and taught him respect for women. Clooney himself, as he recounted, had an uncle who lived over an old bar in Kentucky and went there to buy him cigarettes and beer. Everyone can find what they need inside: the search for a father figure, the fear and desire to grow up, the sense of indulging one’s passions, wisdom and unconsciousness.

It is divided into two parts, Jr’s childhood and then life at Yale, where he meets Sidney, rich and rebellious, which will make him dizzy. IS a film of feelings, and a thousand shades of memory. And everything (almost) always passes through a bar counter.