These lessons are necessary because, you guessed it, JR’s got daddy issues exacerbated by his missing Papa, a radio DJ nicknamed “The Voice” ( Max Martini). Instead, he instructs his young nephew JR in the fine art of being a man. Unlike Joseph Cotten’s more famous namesake from “ Shadow of a Doubt,” Uncle Charlie doesn’t murder people and terrorize his sister’s kid the star rating would be higher if he did. Uncle Ben, or rather, Uncle Charlie as Affleck’s character is christened, runs a bar on Long Island called The Dickens Bar. This kind of uncle is embodied here by Ben Affleck, whose presence made me incorrectly assume this movie took place in Boston. You think back on him with fondness, as he was so much larger than life in your youth, and that affection buffs off the edges you unwillingly recall as an adult. He can even get the everlasting gobstopper crap beaten out of him, and your hazy affection for his toughness won’t waver. You know this one he’s the tough guy who cusses in front of you when you’re a kid, promises to always tell you the truth, and gives you romantic advice that will prove useless. We’ve had the cool, gay uncle in “ Uncle Frank” and the big-hearted, sensitive uncle in “C’mon C’mon.” “The Tender Bar” has the straight-shooting, honest uncle whose true self gets poisoned by nostalgia.
We’re in the age of the uncle movie, and their influential characters run the gamut of stereotypes.
