Penelope and I figure some viewers will tune in to watch Affleck, you don't see Clooney. We didn't. We're gay remember!
But the story line is impelling by Amazon. A boy and his mother move home after being evicted. The Home is that to a many people, Affleck being just one.
"In 1972, 9-year-old J.R. Maguire moves into his grandfather's dilapidated house in Long Island, N.Y. Searching for a father figure, he falls under the unconventional tutelage of his uncle Charlie, a charismatic, self-educated bartender who introduces him to a handful of the bar's colorful regulars. As the years pass and J.R. grows into a young man, he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer."
Christopher Lloyd portrays the acerbic but lovable grandfather superbly often providing the only attention and love JR seeks.
We watched this the other night then found this.
"Clooney and screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) manage to retain and express its most important themes: growing up fatherless, the fierce love of a single mother, learning what it means to be a man from dubious "authorities" on the subject, surviving a first love and the insidiousness of societal class systems, finding a life's purpose, and becoming an authentically good man. The story is essentially split between child J.R. spending time with Uncle Charlie, his bar's regulars, and his Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd), who he and his mom (Lily Rabe) go to live with after she can no longer support them; and college-age J.R., as he navigates the early stages of adulthood and battles personal demons while striving to become a writer."
https://m.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/the-tender-bar-delivers-a-poignant-adaptation-of-jr-moeringers-stirring-2005-coming-of-age-memoir/Content?oid=11941177