Clooney-directed ‘The Tender Bar’ elevated by Affleck’s performance

It’s not that everything George Clooney touches turns to gold.

However, since 1997’s ill-fated “Batman & Robin,” the actor has prioritized a good script over all else when choosing a project. That has led to a number of leading-man turns that, if not huge hits, more often were well-regarded than panned. Plus, Clooney’s acting resume has become impressively eclectic.

The same can be said of his growing list of directorial credits. The director of acclaimed films “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005) and “The Ides of March” (2011”), Clooney last year gave us the Netflix film “The Midnight Sky,” a smaller, underappreciated science-fiction drama in which he also starred.

And now he makes a hard turn into “The Tender Bar,” a highly enjoyable adaptation of journalist J.R. Moehringer’s 2005 book, “The Tender Bar: A Memoir.”

Thanks also to a strong supporting performance by Ben Affleck, “The Tender Bar” is well worth checking out when it makes its debut this week on Amazon’s Prime Video platform after a brief exclusive run in theaters.

Affleck portrays Uncle Charlie, the bartending, classic book-devouring, fatherlike figure in the life of young J.R. Maguire (Daniel Ranieri as a boy, Tye Sheridan as a young man).

As a lad, J.R. lives with his single mom, Dorothy (Lily Rabe), in the home shared by her brother, Charlie, and their colorfully curmudgeonly father (Christopher Lloyd).

“Oh shut up, you old turd!” Dorothy bellows at J.R.’s grandfather after one of his outbursts.

It’s all charming, in its way. As Dorothy struggles to make the best of life she can for her son after J.R.’s father abandoned them years earlier, the boy scans the airwaves for The Voice, his name for his father, a radio deejay.

J.R. would love to have his father in his life, but Dad (Max Martini) tends to show up later than he says he will — if he shows at all — and has a habit of being drunk when he does dip into J.R.’s life.

Unsurprisingly, Charlie isn’t the man’s biggest fan and sets about teaching his nephew a few things himself, many of the lessons taking place at The Dickens, the book-laden bar near the family home in Manhasset, Long Island, New York, where Charlie slings drinks. He also gives the boy access to his closet full of classic tomes and, later, encourages the idea that J.R. may want to pursue a career as a writer.

Much of “The Tender Bar” also concerns the college-age J.R.’s time with the captivating Sydney (Briana Middleton), a wealthy young woman he notices in class and eventually conjures up the bravery to talk to. Sydney comes from wealthy parents who are quite unimpressed with him and has an on-again-off-again dynamic with another male, but J.R. refuses to let these obstacles get in his way.

Lastly, the coming-of-age tale deals with J.R.’s efforts to land a job as a staff writer with The New York Times — a tall order given his journalistic experience to that point.

Watching “The Tender Bar,” you can’t help but recall 2020’s “Hillbilly Elegy,” based on the memoir of the same name by venture capitalist and conservative author J.D. Vance, who’s running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Rob Portman this year. As with “Elegy,” there ultimately isn’t a complex story being told in “The Tender Bar.” However, whereas the Ron Howard-directed film — despite strong performances by cast members including Glenn Close — never found something with which to anchor the film, Clooney’s has the relationship between J.R. and Charlie.

Truthfully, Affleck probably could play a street-smart neighborhood bartender with one hour of prep work. However, that this role allows him to stay well within his range doesn’t make the performance any less enjoyable. He gives a boost to several scenes.

Sheridan (“Ready Player One,” “The Card Counter”) is a bit more engaging here than he’s sometimes been on screen. You certainly root for his J.R. to get the girl and the job.

As for the bit players, Rabe (“The Undoing”), Martini (“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”) and the delightfully over-the-top Lloyd (“Back to the Future,” “Nobody”) make the most of limited screen time.

From the creative side, writer William Monahan (“The Departed”) skillfully has condensed a 400-page memoir into an engaging-enough portrait of a boy becoming a man.

Lastly, there’s Clooney, pushing enough of the right buttons as he stays completely behind the camera for this one.

While it hit theaters in time for end-of-the-year awards consideration, “The Tender Bar” isn’t quite at that level. Nonetheless, it’s well-paced and entertaining, a nicely balanced cocktail to be enjoyed on a pleasant evening.