William Monahan on Writing The Tender Bar and Neil Jordan’s Marlowe Movie Starring Liam Neeson

With director George Clooney’s The Tender Bar now streaming on Prime Video, I spoke with Oscar winning screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) about writing the film based on Pulitzer Prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer’s memoir of the same name. If you haven’t seen the trailer, the Massachusetts-set drama explores the relationship between the fatherless J.R. (Tye Sheridan) and his uncle (Ben Affleck), as they bond at a bar overflowing with colorful patrons. The film also stars Lily Rabe, Ron Livingston, Christopher Lloyd, Max Martini, Briana Middleton, Max Casella. Daniel Ranieri plays the young J.R. During the interview, Monahan talks about how he got involved in the project, his process for adapting a book into a movie script, how Clooney loved his script and didn’t ask for rewrites, what he’d like to make if he could get the financing for any project, and why he doesn’t like to talk about unannounced projects. In addition, he also talks about writing Neil Jordan’s next film, Marlowe, which sta