Manchester by the Sea

After the sudden death of his older brother, Lee, played by Casey Affleck, is made legal guardian of his son Patrick. He then returns to his hometown and is forced to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community he was born and raised in.

Kenneth Lonergan is such an extraordinary and talented writer; his beautifully, and richly, textured drama draws upon the timeless themes of recovery, redemption, and the persistence of guilt in such a way that feels fresh. The emotion is never overbearing for the sake of being overbearing, rather it feels all too real, which is a credit to the writing as much as it is to the fantastic performances.

This is the 'Casey Affleck show' from beginning to end; you can just give him the 'Best Actor' Oscar right now and save everyone a whole lot of trouble. He radiates this aura of subtle magnetism so brilliantly and effortlessly; there's not a single emotion on the spectrum that goes unexploited.

As much as the film is about Lee and his internal journey from tragedy to something a lot more hopeful, it's also about his nephew, played by Lucas Hedges, who has a very bright future, and his personal struggle to cope with his father's death. Despite having a small yet significant part in the film, Michelle Williams' performance is a treasure to behold. There's one scene, in particular, where she got everyone in attendance wishing they brought a tissue.

Unlike many big-budget studio movies, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA is not afraid to make the audience work and test the viewer's patience with its constant, and unannounced, cutting between past and present, as well as its unwavering unravelling of character background and motivation. In fact, one of its best aspects is the lack of close-ups. Almost everything is filmed from afar, which reflects Lee's emotional distancing. And it's not until later where you finally find out why this guy has detached himself from the rest of the world. Then, from that point on, you're in his head; you watch the film unfold from a point-of-view almost entirely foreign to how you viewed it at first.

Regardless of the second half's slackening pace and film's familiar DNA, this is without a doubt the most personal and heart wrenching film of 2016 thus far. Maybe even the best.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

**** (out of 4)

After the sudden death of his brother, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) must return to the town that he has been running from in order to take care of his 16-year-old nephew (Lucas Hedges). It doesn't take long for the haunting past to catch up with Lee who might just not be able to face it.

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA is an extremely quiet movie but it's also a very powerful one. I'm not going to say anything else about the plot as I don't want to give anything away but it's certainly a very deep and emotional gem that has an extremely good story as well as some magnificent and emotionally charged performances. This certainly isn't a movie that's going to have a wide appeal because it's just too depressing for that but those willing to sit through it will find it to be quite rewarding.

Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan does a magnificent job with the screenplay and I especially liked the structure that the film goes for. We're given a few flashbacks throughout the early part of the film to give us enough information to explain why the Lee character is the way he is. When we first meet him he's somewhat of a jerk and you can just feel that there's some hidden pain in him. I really thought the film used the flashbacks perfectly to show us what caused Lee to get this way and the film plays out perfectly well as all of the past comes back. We've seen several films deal with a character battling the past but I must say that this here is one of the best examples of a man being haunted and finally having to face his demons.

As great as the screenplay is, you've also got some terrific performances to help pull out all of the emotion. Hedges is extremely good in the role of the nephew and Kyle Chandler is terrific in his few scenes as the brother. The always dependable Michelle Williams' turns in another remarkable performance as the ex-wife who has her own set of pain. The film, however, clearly belongs to Affleck who turns in the greatest performance of his career. He talks in a very quiet manor and sometimes he doesn't say anything at all but you can just look in Affleck's eyes and see the pain. In the way he walks you can see the weight of the world holding him down. This is a very emotional performance and a deep and haunting one yet the actor pulls it off without a problem.

The film also benefits from a terrific score, some beautiful cinematography and there's no question that the setting is perfect for the story. As I said, this is a mighty depressing film so I can see why some might want to tap out early on but those willing to sit through it will certainly be rewarded with a powerful film with some of the best acting of the year.

In spite of a most annoying & pretentious score, this was a very moving film--actually a mouth-gaping appreciation of Casey Affleck. He carries the film, along with the actor playing his brother, Michelle Williams, & his nephew. Some scenes early on seem to plod on, and the pivotal scene of Affleck's past (that will forever haunt him) is reconstructed by voice-over rather than __seeing__ the evidence, which becomes a little disconcerting, considering how important it is. I was really impressed by Affleck's character, who seemed incapable of enjoying anything in his life. His alcoholism is palpable, as well as his violence, but he plays a wholly realized character--infinitely better than he did in "Gone Baby Gone." I hope he wins an Oscar for this role: I've never seen him better. And Michelle Williams is wonderful, especially in a near-conclusion confrontation with Affleck: that alone is Oscar-worthy. It's beautifully shot in the actual Manchester-by-the-Sea, and it's definitely worth seeing.

This is such a powerful movie that after years of watching, some of the scenes and dialogues still come to me. There was an unthinkable tragedy making it suffocating throughout, reminding the viewers of the pure pain life could bring - even with the most innocent and tynist mistake, or oversight. No one is close to perfect, but has to bear the weight falling upon, often uncalled for.

There are many motivational stories, but as many other times, have you been there - "I can't beat it", which deserve repeating - "I can't beat it". Does it even matter if "I am sorry"? Yet then life goes on, somehow most will manage, compromise and move on. We don't have to beat everything after all.

Love the movie and bravo to Casey Affleck's acting. The blinking of tear in his eye when hugging Williams at the funeral, the unspoken thousands of words in his eyes... That Oscar was well deserved.

Simply powerful.

The best part about this movie is the emotional connection it establishes with the protagonist. You could actually feel for Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck in a truly Oscar worthy performance) when he tries to cope up with the tragedy that has destroyed him as a person. He is an emotionally distraught person yet he realizes the fact that he must continue to live, continue to take responsibility that he despises the most because of the tragedy that he has faced in his life, fighting his inner daemons to be a nice guardian to his nephew.

Lee is a janitor working in Boston when he gets to know about the sudden death of his brother due to heart attack in Manchester which is also the place where Lee belongs. As per his brother's will Lee has to be the guardian of his 16 year old son. Lee is much reluctant to accept this responsibility despite the fact that he loves his nephew very much. How he accept the responsibility and finally gives in to every wish of his nephew, which includes moving to Manchester, a place he so despises due to the personal tragedy he has suffered forms the crux of the story.

Initially it is hard to understand the erratic and reserved behavior of Lee considering his jovial nature from the pre-tragedy flashbacks but as soon as you get to know of the tragedy you completely change your thinking about Lee and your heart reaches out to him. The reason for this change is the way Lee is played by Casey Affleck. He makes the character his own and not once you feel like he is acting..no melodrama. Such a restrained performance yet conveying the frustration of the character beautifully to viewers is something not many actors can achieve. Full credits to him for such a brilliant portrayal.

We get to hear a lot of stories about someone's struggle to achieve his or her dream by facing all difficulties, hardships and those stories then becomes a source of inspiration to those having similar dreams but are yet to achieve the same. But what about those who have no dreams or rather have lost the ability to dream, those whose past haunts them so much that a dream has no meaning in their life. All they have are nightmares. Clearly such stories does not inspire them. Then what is it that keeps them going? What are their struggles? Even if they hope to be caring to their loved ones, even if they live and survive for their well being, they must fight the past and it is this struggle which makes for a compelling viewing. These stories should also be a source of inspiration to those depressed souls with similar traumatic pasts and that is what this movie does brilliantly. In a way this movie reminded me of 'The pursuit of happiness' in terms of a man's struggle to survive and care for one's loved ones. But in this case it is not the outside world they are fighting but the world inside them.