Director George Clooney had the Beverly Farms train station transformed into a Westport, Connecticut station during Christmas in the 1980s on Friday, March 12th.
FRIDAY, 8 P.M.
It seemed like all of Beverly Farms had spilled out into the streets and headed to the MBTA Commuter Rail Station that had been transformed into a 1980s era Westport, Connecticut train station. It was the set of the new George Clooney-directed feature film, The Tender Bar, based on the award-winning memoir of the same name by J.R. Moehringer. Filming had been going on in downtown Beverly earlier in the week, with Ben Affleck (who plays JR’s uncle) at a bar on Rantoul Street. This time, it was Beverly Farms’ turn, and the crowd that had gathered to watch were compliant when members of the crew came over to tamp down the noise, raising their hands to signal to everyone, “Rolling! Quiet on the set!” How exciting.
This scene here at the station is a pivotal part in the book, where our working class hero, JR (played by Tye Sheridan) arrives for the holidays to join his Yale University girlfriend and her fancy family. Drama ensues. Set watchers were treated to holiday lights and WASPy cars from the 80s (read: an old Mercedes SL, 240 Volvo wagon, and a wood paneled Wagoneer). Oh yes, and there’s Sheridan on the platform. Clooney is off to the far right, in the white Nike sneakers quietly watching from the second monitor.
