The Tender Bar Ending Explained: What Becomes of JR? Who Is The Voice?

The Tender Bar is available on Amazon Prime Video! The Tender Bar tells the story of a young boy, JR, who grows up on Long Island, raised by his mother and family because of an absent father. Of all the family members, it was Uncle Charlie, his mother’s brother, who seemed to have the most profound impact on the boy, nurturing his love of reading and encouraging him to write, making him the man he will become. JR realizes his mother’s dream of going to Yale, but soon realizes that he doesn’t want to be a lawyer, but a novelist. If you have any questions regarding the ending of The Tender Bar, we’ll tell you everything!

The Tender Bar Ending Explained: What Becomes of JR? Who Is The Voice?

JR is accepted to the New York Times as an intern but must leave when not promoted to full-time reporter. Finally, the need to see his father draws the young man to a restaurant where they meet. JR’s father is known as “The Voice”. This is explained by his radio work and by the fact that JR has barely seen the man and knows him mainly by his voice. However, the title also has a metaphorical significance and could refer to the dark voice that JR carries within him.

The reunion is unpleasant and ends with JR calling the police against his father after the latter becomes violent in a state of alcoholic stupor. The Tender Bar ends with our hero leaving behind the wheel of his new car, a gift from Uncle Charlie, thinking about his memories.

While we only see the start of JR’s likely flourishing writing career, we have a few clues that point to him actually writing his memoirs. In particular, the film’s intermittent voiceover tells the story like a memoir and mentions in the final scene that he’s lucky memoirs are in vogue right now.

So the big secret of the movie is that JR writes his memoirs and basically tells the audience how he got to the point of starting to write them. Another story arc that ends at the end of The Tender Bar is JR’s coming of age story. After moving into his grandfather’s house as a child, he finally moves to live on his own. He also appears to have fulfilled all of Uncle Charlie’s requirements to “be a man,” with the last missing item, a car, lovingly supplied by Uncle himself.