Ben Affleck shines as a boy’s avuncular mentor, in George Clooney’s adaptation of J.R. Moehringer’s memoir.
Tender also is an apt description for the gently heartwarming tone of this appealingly low-key, faded Kodachrome coming-of-age story, capably directed by Clooney from a screenplay by William Monahan .
Nothing especially momentous occurs in this film, which opens in 1973 with the relocation of Ranieri’s J.R and his mother to the crowded and noisy house in which she grew up after being abandoned by the boy’s father — a deadbeat drunk and radio D.J. known as the Voice — who gave his real name to J.R. but little else. It’s J.R.’s story, but the figure who looms largest is Charlie, a surrogate father and all-around mensch for a boy who has no other male role model.
When Mom apologizes to J.R. for their boisterous new living conditions — a houseful of aunts, uncles and cousins all living under the grudging wing of J.R.’s crotchety, flatulent grandfather — the kid reports that he doesn’t mind. “I like it,” he says. “It’s people. I like to have people.”So what happens, in a tale that spans a decade or so, from J.R.’s earliest discovery of literature to J.
But for the most part, life’s darker shadows are kept comfortably at bay, including J.R.’s daddy issues with his actual, albeit absentee father. There is one scene, late in the film, in which J.R. delivers some comeuppance, telling his old man — aptly, given his father’s radio nickname — “Shut the [expletive] up!”
Clooney and Monahan employ a form of understated storytelling: The film sneaks up on you, like a sweet cocktail in which you can’t taste the alcohol, delivering a powerful yet unexpected punch. A big ingredient is Affleck, whose performance strikes just the right notes of practical advice and deep affection. At times, Charlie’s role in the story feels a bit literary, for lack of a better word: contrived and on-the-nose.
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