'The Tender Bar' ending explained: Does JR turn his novel into a memoir? (Spoilers)

The highly-anticipated coming-of-age drama, The Tender Bar, dropped on Prime Video today and it's the feel-good film everyone needs.

The Tender Bar revolves around JR as he grows up in his grandfather's house, raised by a single mother and regularly disappointed in his absent father. He dreams of becoming a writer and his Uncle Charlie shows him the ropes of life. This unlikely journey of JR becoming a writer is full of nostalgia and a warm-hearted glow. The film is based on a memoir by J.R. Moehringer.

Let's dissect and understand the ending of Prime Video's The Tender Bar.

Caution: This article contains spoilers.

---

Analyzing the end of 'The Tender Bar'

Summary

The Tender Bar opens with a young JR Moehringer and his mother moving into his grandfather's house after they fail to pay their rent. The house constantly has family coming in and going, so moving back is not a big deal.

As JR grows up, he learns many of life's lessons from his Uncle Charlie while dwelling on his ignorant father.

'The Voice' is what he is called and is regularly badmouthed in the Moehringer house but that does not stop JR from listening to his father's radio shows. After certain disappointing interactions, it becomes clear that the father cares very little for his son.

After learning that JR likes reading, Uncle Charlie introduces him to his book collection. Soon enough, he impresses the people at his uncle's bar by effortlessly solving the local newspaper's Wordy Gurdy.

As The Tender Bar progresses, viewers will see an adolescent JR traveling to Yale for his admission interview. Along the way, he meets a priest and shares his nervousness about the interview.

Eventually, JR gets accepted to Yale and even bags a scholarship. As his time at Yale passes, he falls in love with Sidney but is dumped soon after he arrives at her opulent mansion for Christmas.

Throughout college, JR stays in love with Sidney who repeatedly breaks up with him and in their final year of college, she asks him to apply to The New York Times.

---

Ending

JR luckily got accepted at The New York Times as a copyboy but decided to leave when he wasn't promoted to a full-time reporter. He convinces himself to write a novel and is repeatedly informed that memoirs are in trend.

He then spends his days at his uncle's bar, relentlessly typing and drinking. Eventually, he feels the need to meet his father.

The father-son reunion turns unpleasant and ends with JR calling the police to get his father arrested after he turns violent. Back at The Dickens, JR tells his Uncle Charlie that he has decided to move to Manhattan with a friend from Yale.

The Tender Bar closes with JR driving off in his newly acquired car, a gift from Uncle Charlie.The former drives into the distance whilst thinking about his memoir.

The Tender Bar only showed the beginning of JR's flourishing writing career by dropping hints of him finally writing his memoir. Even the voiceover throughout the film is narrated like a memoir and mentions in the closing scene that JR was lucky that memoirs were in vogue.

This reveals the film's big secret about JR's memoir and narrates how he reached that point.

The film also concludes with JR's coming of age story - from moving into his grandfather's house as a child to finally moving out to live on his own.

He also seems to have ticked all the boxes from Uncle Charlie's requirements of 'being a man' by getting a car, lovingly supplied by Charlie himself.

Throughout the film, there are many scenes where his friends comment on how Charlie is like a father to JR but he constantly blows it off, not realizing what is right in front of him.

The effort put in by Charlie, his family and his friends to raise JR the right way, steered him on to the path of success. This is what makes The Tender Bar special as JR never really questioned who his father-figure was because he never really missed it as he had him a.k.a. Charlie the entire time.

Catch George Clooney's The Tender Bar, now streaming on Prime Video.