10 Best Ever Movie Bartenders

Martin Scorsese's After Hours is a frustrating film for many reasons; its one-night setting feels uncomfortably constrictive, particularly for 80s yuppies who may well be on the receiving end of Griffin Dunne's constant emasculation throughout the film. It's never quite the black comedy it aspires to be, nor is it much of a thriller. It's just a series of misadventures sparked by a 20 dollar bill blowing out a cab window.

It's almost painfully meticulous and almost diabolical how down-on-his-luck Dunne gets, going from another face behind a computer screen by day to alleged burglar by night. But the one character that was always sympathetic was John Heard's Tom, a bartender dating a sculptor who Dunne encountered earlier.

Heard plays it with heart, coming across as a genuinely good and trusting bartender, even trusting Dunne to pay a visit to his girl. When it turns out his love committed suicide, it's hard not empathizing with him, and he seems like the type that would be receptive to communal commiseration.