Manchester by the Sea (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
'Manchester by the Sea', written & directed by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me, Margaret), is a deeply affecting small town saga that explores the kind of grief & sorrow that causes a man to disappear, literally & figuratively. This man is Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a bristly, taciturn handyman who lives outside of Boston, Mass.; content to keep his nose down, do the work, & drink his sorrows away at the local bar. Lee has long steered clear of his hometown Manchester, driven away from 7 yrs. ago or so by a horrifying incident. That all changes one day when he gets a phone call - while shoveling never-ending drifts of snow - that his beloved 45 yr. old brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has succumbed to congestive heart failure.
This devastating news sends Lee back to the fishing village he grew up in, where, after viewing the body at the hospital, must track down Joe's 16 yr. old son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) at a hockey rink to tell him the bad news. Much to Lee's dismay, he discovers that Joe's Will leaves him in charge of his estate & guardian to Patrick. With his mind scrambling for ways to avoid this, he ultimately resolves to stay; at least, 'til he figures out what the next move is. Lee & Patrick care for each other, but Patrick is a handful, and Lee's progress with him is continually stunted by his haunting flashbacks to a happier time when he was married to Randi (Michelle Williams), but unimaginable tragedy strikes; even causing Lee to become a social pariah by gossiping locals, and the impetus for his departure. Drama ensues.
Boy, does 'Manchester by the Sea' pack a gut-punch. Sure, there are moments of levity, but 'MBTS' is more intent (and impressive) in revealing the deep layers of grief that are both palpable AND lying beneath the surface in humans; I'm reminded of Patrick's estranged mother (Gretchen Mol), who 'seems' to have overcome her alcoholism & has married a good Christian (Matthew Broderick), but it's clear after being in her presence for 2 short minutes that she's still wrestling with some crippling demons. Kenneth Lonergan's authenticity (from his script) is undeniable. Though the situations at hand are nothing we haven't seen before, the truth is in the nuanced details. i.e., something as simple as Lee & Patrick bickering while walking down the street in the brittle cold, forgetting where they parked the car; or any quiet moment spent btwn. 2 characters in which nothing is said, but everything inferred.
Casey Affleck's performance is one those brittle, devastating, lived-in kinds that can quietly shatter you; a portrait of a man so overwhelmed by guilt & shame, that he goes through life unable to shake the past. Lee is a tragic individual and, the submerged self-loathing he inhabits is hard to watch. We see Lee as a loveable goofball in early flashbacks, but when you see him in the current state of things in the narrative, it's like he's a walking shadow of his prior self. Lucas Hedges also surprised me as Patrick, a teen shaken by the loss of his beloved dad, quick to argue, but trying to remain placid & normal; humorously juggling two girlfriends, rehearsing with his band, etc. But then he killed me in a bedroom scene after he has a panic attack; cue the Kleenex. And while Michelle Williams brings some unexpected early humor to Randi, she (and Affleck) knocked the wind out of me in a wrenching late scene where she tries to make amends with her broken ex-husband.
The searing 'Manchester by the Sea' tackles grief, mourning, family, acceptance, & how loss affects those left behind - it but does so with such compassion. Every character feels authentic. The off-the-cuff brand of dialogue feels real. The cold, seaside milieu is wonderful. And the performances quietly rivet; balancing all sorts of emotions & touchy circumstances to create a real sense of humanity. I'd have liked one potent scene of emotional/dramatic release near the end. And without a tidy resolution, we can only assume what will happen to these characters in the future. But overall, I was quite affected by this film, one that reminds us that not everything broken can be mended. Bad things happen & life mercilessly goes on. 'MBTS' may or may not break your heart, but you won't come out unaffected.
This devastating news sends Lee back to the fishing village he grew up in, where, after viewing the body at the hospital, must track down Joe's 16 yr. old son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) at a hockey rink to tell him the bad news. Much to Lee's dismay, he discovers that Joe's Will leaves him in charge of his estate & guardian to Patrick. With his mind scrambling for ways to avoid this, he ultimately resolves to stay; at least, 'til he figures out what the next move is. Lee & Patrick care for each other, but Patrick is a handful, and Lee's progress with him is continually stunted by his haunting flashbacks to a happier time when he was married to Randi (Michelle Williams), but unimaginable tragedy strikes; even causing Lee to become a social pariah by gossiping locals, and the impetus for his departure. Drama ensues.
Boy, does 'Manchester by the Sea' pack a gut-punch. Sure, there are moments of levity, but 'MBTS' is more intent (and impressive) in revealing the deep layers of grief that are both palpable AND lying beneath the surface in humans; I'm reminded of Patrick's estranged mother (Gretchen Mol), who 'seems' to have overcome her alcoholism & has married a good Christian (Matthew Broderick), but it's clear after being in her presence for 2 short minutes that she's still wrestling with some crippling demons. Kenneth Lonergan's authenticity (from his script) is undeniable. Though the situations at hand are nothing we haven't seen before, the truth is in the nuanced details. i.e., something as simple as Lee & Patrick bickering while walking down the street in the brittle cold, forgetting where they parked the car; or any quiet moment spent btwn. 2 characters in which nothing is said, but everything inferred.
Casey Affleck's performance is one those brittle, devastating, lived-in kinds that can quietly shatter you; a portrait of a man so overwhelmed by guilt & shame, that he goes through life unable to shake the past. Lee is a tragic individual and, the submerged self-loathing he inhabits is hard to watch. We see Lee as a loveable goofball in early flashbacks, but when you see him in the current state of things in the narrative, it's like he's a walking shadow of his prior self. Lucas Hedges also surprised me as Patrick, a teen shaken by the loss of his beloved dad, quick to argue, but trying to remain placid & normal; humorously juggling two girlfriends, rehearsing with his band, etc. But then he killed me in a bedroom scene after he has a panic attack; cue the Kleenex. And while Michelle Williams brings some unexpected early humor to Randi, she (and Affleck) knocked the wind out of me in a wrenching late scene where she tries to make amends with her broken ex-husband.
The searing 'Manchester by the Sea' tackles grief, mourning, family, acceptance, & how loss affects those left behind - it but does so with such compassion. Every character feels authentic. The off-the-cuff brand of dialogue feels real. The cold, seaside milieu is wonderful. And the performances quietly rivet; balancing all sorts of emotions & touchy circumstances to create a real sense of humanity. I'd have liked one potent scene of emotional/dramatic release near the end. And without a tidy resolution, we can only assume what will happen to these characters in the future. But overall, I was quite affected by this film, one that reminds us that not everything broken can be mended. Bad things happen & life mercilessly goes on. 'MBTS' may or may not break your heart, but you won't come out unaffected.