The Tender Bar (2021)

JR is a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie, is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures. As the boy’s determined mother struggles to provide her son with opportunities denied to her — and leave the dilapidated home of her outrageous if begrudgingly supportive father — JR begins to gamely, if not always gracefully, pursue his romantic and professional dreams, with one foot persistently placed in Uncle Charlie’s bar.

Released Dec. 17, 2021 104 min 15+

Genres: Biography, Drama, Romance

Keywords: mdblist.has-trailer, mdblist.rotten, mdblist.amazon-original, tmdb.1970s, tmdb.long-island-new-york, tmdb.coming-of-age, tmdb.writer + 293 more, tmdb.uncle-nephew-relationship, tmdb.bar, imdb.male-bonding, imdb.septic-tank, imdb.boy, imdb.italian, imdb.irish, imdb.financial-struggle, imdb.bartender, imdb.nickname, imdb.ivy-league, imdb.love-affair, imdb.copyeditor, imdb.writer, imdb.male-sciences, imdb.publicans-bar, imdb.dickens-bar, imdb.child-support, imdb.abusive-father, imdb.self-taught, imdb.yale-essay, imdb.cadillac-convertible, imdb.gin-martini, imdb.storytelling, imdb.absent-father, imdb.interracial-relationship, imdb.novelist, imdb.new-york-times-the-newspaper, imdb.copyboy, imdb.stashies-in-my-wallet, imdb.identity-crisis, imdb.heartbreak, imdb.barfly, imdb.life-lessons, imdb.based-on-memoir, imdb.uncle-nephew-relationship, imdb.year-1973, imdb.signed-baseball, imdb.grandfather-grandson-relationship, imdb.radio-disc-jockey, imdb.deadbeat-father, imdb.reference-to-charles-dickens, imdb.alcoholic, imdb.father-figure, imdb.school-psychologist, imdb.younger-version-of-character, imdb.extended-family, imdb.college-graduate, imdb.thyroid-cancer, imdb.long-island-new-york, imdb.bowling-league, awards.golden-globe-nominated, imdb.year-1986, aspectratio.1-85-1, imdb.college-acceptance-letter, imdb.yale-student, imdb.college-roommate, imdb.college-dormitory, imdb.westport-connecticut, imdb.woman-on-top-sex, imdb.priest, imdb.yale-graduate, imdb.ring-as-a-gift, imdb.father-son-estrangement, imdb.car-as-a-gift, imdb.scene-during-end-credits, imdb.beach, imdb.chicken-as-food, imdb.man-hits-a-woman, imdb.man-knocks-a-woman-to-the-ground, imdb.police, imdb.police-car, imdb.policeman, imdb.aunt-nephew-relationship, imdb.owning-a-car, imdb.reference-to-elvis-presley, imdb.moving-out, imdb.manhattan-new-york-city, imdb.new-york-city, imdb.boy-drives-a-car, imdb.fuzzy-dice-hanging-from-a-rearview-mirror, imdb.pabst-blue-ribbon-beer, imdb.budweiser-beer, imdb.beach-chair, imdb.frisbee, imdb.sunbathing, imdb.metal-detector, imdb.wading-in-water, imdb.uncle-carries-his-nephew-in-his-arms, imdb.sleeping-at-the-beach, imdb.autographed-baseball, imdb.radio, imdb.reference-to-thomas-aquinas, imdb.reference-to-george-orwell, imdb.reference-to-donald-sutherland, imdb.reference-to-julie-christie, imdb.jealousy, imdb.alias, imdb.father-complex, imdb.snow, imdb.first-love, imdb.working-class, imdb.christmas, imdb.train-station, imdb.suitcase, imdb.love, imdb.connecticut, imdb.smoking-in-bed, imdb.christmas-tree, imdb.sex, imdb.christmas-decorations, imdb.overhearing-sounds-of-sex, imdb.boyfriend-girlfriend-relationship, imdb.breakup, imdb.scone, imdb.interracial-marriage, imdb.architect, imdb.fictional-magazine, imdb.secretary, imdb.college-senior, imdb.garbage-can, imdb.agita, imdb.reading, imdb.mailbox, imdb.money, imdb.talking-to-a-voice-on-a-radio, imdb.train, imdb.flash-forward, imdb.flashback, imdb.bicycle, imdb.reference-to-god, imdb.reference-to-the-virgin-mary, imdb.machismo, imdb.hangover, imdb.cigarette-smoking, imdb.telephone, imdb.telephone-call, imdb.grandmother-grandson-relationship, imdb.husband-wife-relationship, imdb.man-reads-a-newspaper, imdb.boy-wears-a-baseball-cap, imdb.baseball-mitt, imdb.drunkenness, imdb.wallet, imdb.aspiring-writer, imdb.flatulence, imdb.photographic-memory, imdb.memory, imdb.puzzle, imdb.reference-to-tom-seaver, imdb.yale-university, imdb.teenage-boy, imdb.mother-son-relationship, imdb.father-daughter-relationship, imdb.voice-over-narration, imdb.subjective-camera, imdb.scene-during-opening-credits, imdb.mattress-tied-to-the-roof-of-a-car, imdb.listening-to-a-car-radio, imdb.listening-to-music, imdb.listening-to-music-on-a-car-radio, imdb.woman-wears-sunglasses, imdb.reference-to-the-who-the-band, imdb.baseball, imdb.man-wears-sunglasses, imdb.return-home, imdb.narrated-by-character, imdb.narrated-by-protagonist, imdb.boy-protagonist, imdb.teenage-boy-protagonist, imdb.old-man, imdb.old-man-with-long-hair, imdb.food, imdb.eating, imdb.family-relationships, imdb.cousin-cousin-relationship, imdb.11-year-old, imdb.11-year-old-boy, imdb.washing-dishes, imdb.reference-to-jesus-christ, imdb.framed-photograph, imdb.listening-to-a-radio, imdb.dancer, imdb.dancing, imdb.mother-young-son-embrace, imdb.mother-and-young-son-share-a-bedroom, imdb.promise, imdb.girl, imdb.cereal, imdb.card-playing, imdb.name-calling, imdb.stinginess, imdb.male-chauvinism, imdb.knocking-on-a-door, imdb.brother-sister-relationship, imdb.cigarette-lighter, imdb.father-son-relationship, imdb.mustached-man, imdb.aspiring-lawyer, imdb.man-hits-a-man, imdb.man-kicks-a-man, imdb.beating, imdb.mother-and-young-son-share-a-bed, imdb.boy-wears-pajamas, imdb.meaning-of-one-s-name, imdb.school, imdb.dubiety, imdb.man-with-long-hair, imdb.typewriter, imdb.fictional-newspaper, imdb.irish-priest, imdb.reading-a-book, imdb.old-gold-cigarettes, imdb.class, imdb.classroom, imdb.teacher, imdb.hand-written-invitation, imdb.father-son-breakfast, imdb.cuff-links, imdb.old-man-brushes-his-hair, imdb.husband-kisses-his-wife-on-her-forehead, imdb.manhasset-long-island-new-york, imdb.elementary-school, imdb.station-wagon, imdb.malignant-thyroid-tumor, imdb.convertible, imdb.reference-to-richard-nixon, imdb.reference-to-gary-cooper, imdb.child-prodigy, imdb.american-flag, imdb.raised-middle-finger, imdb.bowling, imdb.bowling-alley, imdb.college-application, imdb.id, imdb.reading-a-letter-aloud, imdb.man-wears-eyeglasses, imdb.selecting-college-courses, imdb.scotch-whiskey, imdb.reference-to-jackie-robinson, imdb.roommate-roommate-relationship, imdb.reference-to-satan, imdb.teenage-boy-wears-eyeglasses, imdb.college-professor, imdb.lecture-hall, imdb.western-literature-class, imdb.bunk-beds, imdb.reference-to-aristotle, imdb.reference-to-shakespeare-s-henry-v, imdb.luck, imdb.reference-to-homer, imdb.teenage-boy-wears-pajamas, imdb.college-graduation, imdb.graduation-cap-and-gown, imdb.wall-phone, imdb.telephone-dial-tone, imdb.aspiring-novelist, imdb.ring, imdb.year-1215, imdb.reference-to-king-john, imdb.sidewalk-cafe, imdb.new-haven-connecticut, imdb.reference-to-harry-s-truman, imdb.job-interview, imdb.newspaper-office, imdb.reference-to-e-e-cummings, imdb.byline, imdb.restaurant, imdb.newspaper-reporter, imdb.book, imdb.jigsaw-puzzle, imdb.talking-to-a-younger-version-of-oneself, imdb.depression, imdb.dream-sequence, imdb.waking-from-a-dream, imdb.newspaper-wedding-announcement, imdb.newspaper-editor, imdb.hospital, imdb.north-carolina, imdb.hospital-visit, imdb.taxi, imdb.handshake, imdb.father-son-hug, imdb.waitress, imdb.cocktail, imdb.coming-of-age, imdb.coming-of-age-drama, imdb.bearded-man, imdb.unrequited-love, imdb.volvo-the-car, imdb.1210s, imdb.1980s, imdb.1970s