Bar Fight! review – breakup comedy turns into drinking-challenge face-off

An unhappy couple settle their rivalry over on a series of inane challenges in a film that mistakes dodgy acting for ambience

This LA-set breakup comedy at least has a nifty hook: when a longstanding couple part ways, who gets drinking rights at their favourite bar? After five years together, flannel-shirted carpenter Allen (Luka Jones) and go-getting talent agent Nina (Melissa Fumero) are undergoing what Los Angelenos now call a “conscious uncoupling”. Having never fought when they were together, their separation proceeds on the same smooth lines – until they set foot in the Martinez Bar & Lounge on the same evening, both on the town as singletons for the first time. Staff allegiances are divided, so they come up with a decider: Allen and Nina have to undergo a best-of-three bar challenge, with the loser “eighty-sixed” for good.

Debut director Jim Mahoney gets a tasty buzz on in the early stages, couching Bar Fight! as an upbeat Californian Christmas affair in the Shane Black tradition, with a rhythmical snap in his stride as the characters face off in front of the counter. He tries to make the Martinez a Cheers-style home-from-home, with boozy dramatis personae including soft-touch manager Dick (Vik Sahay), silver-tongued barman Mason (Daniel Dorr), and 1,000-yard-stare cook Elena (Dot Marie-Jones).