A title like Bar Fight! (2022) would not be one I typically choose.  Part of this has to do with my teetotaling ways.  I have nothing against alcohol consumption.  In fact, if you and I were at some watering hole, you might be surprised with how much I know about beer and other spirits.  Still, such establishments are not my first option, unless the atmosphere is low key and quiet.  Again, the title would not belie such a scenario, and it hits the events contained therein directly on the nose.  In addition to not being a drinker, neither am I a fan of violence.  I have become even more of a pacificist as I have grown in my Faith.  Having said all this, it must be said that the film is not a complete disaster.  I did not enjoy it, but there are some serious issues with which it deals along the way.

The first serious issue tackled in Bar Fight! is divorce, though you would not know that is what is initially happening.  Already, this is not comfortable Catholic material.  The split between Allen (Luka Jones) and Nina (Melissa Fumero) is so amicable that everyone attending their garage sale assume they are getting rid of their stuff to cut down on clutter. Instead, what they do not sell is to be divided between them and they go their separate ways with a smile.  A week passes and it is time for them to have their individual nights on the town.  Yet, the one thing upon which they had not agreed is the bar they regularly patronized together.  Hence, when they walk in at the same time on the same night, an argument ensues as to who shall get the privilege of continuing on at this location.  Their first solution is to put it to a vote amongst the various employees who have come to appreciate them as customers.  The tally is even, and Dick (Vik Sahay), the manager and owner, is too limp wristed to make the final decision.  This is when the new hire, Autumn (Hope Lauren), who has come to Los Angeles from Florida in the hopes of becoming famous, makes a suggestion.  Citing a Tampa custom, she says Allen and Nina should do a three-leg competition consisting of various games drawn at random.  The first to win two of them will have the right to call the pub theirs, and the other will be forever banished.  The first is a tricycle race, the contestants needed to make a lap around the premises and then chug a glass of Nina’s choice.  Because she knows he will likely cross the finish line before her, she picks cider.  Her strategy is based on a memory they have of Allen losing a game of beer pong and having to down so many of these alcoholic drinks made from apples that he puked.  The image of that night haunts Allen, and not long after swallowing the last drop, it all comes back up, making Nina the winner.  There are two things to note here for shorthand’s sake because to describe each game they play would be tedious.  First, they clearly have a wealth of experiences here, which largely explains why they had not previously made an arrangement as to who would get to go to the bar and when.  Secondly, for the moment, they are not above pulling dirty tricks.  This happens again after Allen ties the match and is about to gain the prize after blindfold darts.  Miraculously, his last toss hits the bullseye, giving him enough points to take the lead, but Nina throws her shoes at the board, knocking it off the wall and claiming to have not seen the winning shot.  Because of that, they do another round, this time involving becoming a human bowling ball in a steel cage and knocking over empty beer kegs.  By this point, it is becoming evident that they still care for each other, though they are not ready to admit it.  The best we get is Allen helping Nina out of the contraption and saying that technically the competition is not over since a case could be made that she triumphed in darts.  By this point, their respective wingmen, Allen’s business partner Milan (Julian Grant) and Nina’s best friend Chelsea (Rachel Bloom), have gone home.  Nonetheless, the staff, besides Dick, are delighted to have the two stay and keep battling it out.  Their axe throwing is interrupted when an online dating match of Nina’s, Alexander (Remington Hoffman), shows up after being delayed.  The surprise of his entry and quick exit causes Allen to drop the metal tool on his foot.  Nina looks after him in the kitchen, and it is here that the tension building between them is finally released in that way our modern culture finds all too acceptable, sadly.  If you do not believe me, then explain the satisfied look of the staff members who listen to them carry on, smiling the entire time.  Neither are Allen and Nina particularly ashamed when they emerge.  However, any good will gained from their escapades disappears in a heartbeat when they argue about what to do next.  Nina is in favor of joining the others for breakfast, but Allen thought they had agreed to go back to his place.  The disagreement is a microcosm of their differences, with her accusing him of being stuck in his ways, and him telling her that she is too into change for change’s sake.  Their spat is halted before it goes further by the police arriving, saying they need to go home.  With that, Allen and Nina walk outside, acknowledge their irreconcilable differences, and walk away alone.  The film ends a year later with a chance meeting between them at another bar, a friendly word exchanged and that is all.

Perhaps I am old fashioned, but “that is all” is not the conclusion I expected from Bar Fight!  I wanted a happy ending, which I guess we got, though not in the traditional sense.  I get that not every person is right for everyone else.  I am a firm believer that if one is called to marriage, then the person God has in store for you is out there waiting to be met.  Because of this, I am slightly troubled by Nina’s stance on the relationship.  She says she wants someone who will grow with her.  On the surface, I agree with this sentiment.  Yet, I cannot deny the wisdom of Allen’s counter to her argument.  He feels that there are times when she is making a change to her life on a whim.  These choices could be harmless, or they could have devastating consequences.  I am all for going in whatever direction God calls me to go.  I have spent most of my life thinking that meant marriage, but since that has yet to happen, if He asked me to become a priest, I would do so.  That calling has not come for me, but it could.  On a broader level, we should be open to forming ourselves to God’s will, which might be different from one epoch of our lives to the next.  One can make the argument that Allen is too rigid.  He has his way of doing things and does not deal well with modifications to the program.  On the other hand, he makes a great point about accepting another person for who they are, which is cliché but true.  That is what God does for us, and we should be more than willing to do the same for others.  This can also allow for growth, which, again, should take place in the context of Faith.  If they involve constant and major alterations to your lifestyle and way of thinking, then I would question if you know who you are as a person.

Ultimately, this understanding of the persons they are is where Bar Fight! lands.  As I mentioned, I would have preferred for Allen and Nina to have worked out their differences.  No two people are exactly alike.  God does not create complete copies.  There are even subtle variations among twins.  Hence, the ending sours any goodness to be found in some of the moments along the way.