Manchester By the Sea

Manchester By the Sea

Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

The Story:
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is working as a janitor for an apartment complex in Boston, and clearly has some personal issues he's dealing with, as he gets into verbal confrontations with tenants and fights at the bar.  He then receives word that his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) had a heart attack and he drives back to his hometown of Manchester-by-the-Sea to be with him, but receives word after he arrived that Joe had passed away.

He stays at Joe's home with Joe's teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) while he arranges the funeral, and tries to avoid the pains of the past by avoiding his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams).  He then finds out through Joe's will that he is now Patrick's guardian, and Lee says he can't take care of him, that he was just a "backup."  He tells Patrick that he can't take care of him because he would have to stay in town, or move Patrick out of everything he's known and go back to Boston.

Meanwhile, not only does Lee have to face the tragic events that caused him to become a calloused, reclusive, emotionless person, but it seems the townspeople in the small town also hold him to a certain sort of scrutiny that is unbeknownst to the viewer until later in the film.  Those actions affect Lee in a profound way, as he wants to do right by his brother and nephew, but also strongly desires to run away and not face the demons of his past.

The Synopsis:
One of the main reasons we go to the movies is to escape our own reality.  We like to turn off our minds to the terrors and trials around us for a little while and see epic, grandiose masterpieces of good conquering evil, action-packed extravaganzas, sci-fi space operas and films about the power of love.  We like to see movies where the impossible seems possible, and the future is bright and cheery.

Then there's "Manchester By the Sea."

Not only is the film a truly humanistic film that falls eerily too close to home, it's also a downright depressing cinematic experience that tries to keep the audience uplifted by soft, hidden dark humor, but ultimately forces the audience to focus on their own frail humanity and experiencing inconceivable loss and grief.  It doesn't take place in a galaxy far, far away, or somewhere in the distant future or past, but instead it happens in the here and now, and it's almost like you're a voyeur witnessing a family falling apart at the seams while trying to keep their heads floating above water.  Still, despite all this, it's a darkly beautiful masterpiece, one of the best films of the year, and one that has already accumulated several film award nominations, and the Oscars aren't too far behind.

At the heart of the film is Casey Affleck's Lee Chandler, and by far this is the performance of the younger Affleck's already stellar career (if you haven't seen "Gone Baby Gone" "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" or "The Killer Inside Me," you definitely should), and will undoubtedly earn him another Oscar nomination (he previously was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for "Jesse James") and quite possibly a win for Best Actor.  Affleck gives an impeccable performance as a man who has allowed the sins of his past to dictate his present, allowing him to try to run away from the past and gain a new start, but realizing that no matter where he is, the past comes back to haunt him.  Now he's forced to return to the town where it all happened, where no one forgets, and has to face an impossible task - taking care of a teenage boy while dealing with the death of his close brother.  You can see the pain in his eyes, his movements and expressions as well as his deeply emotional portrayal, which leaves you feeling pity and empathy for the young man who has endured more in his short life than people twice his age.

Adding to the stellar lead is Michelle Williams (an Oscar darling who will no doubt get a Best Supporting Actress nod here) as Lee's ex-wife Randi.  Seen mostly through flashbacks, we witness their love story begin and crumble apart after the unthinkable, and Williams gives another Oscar-worthy performance as a woman who has lost everything and also feels the pains of the past.

The biggest revelation in the film is Lucas Hedges, who plays Patrick.  He's a relative unknown, only appearing in films like "Moonrise Kingdom" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," and starring in the short-lived series "The Slap."  To the moviegoing audience, he was a clean slate, someone who could either rise to the occasion or return to mere mediocrity.  Thankfully, he not only rose to the occasion, he delivered a knockout performance that will also probably earn him an Oscar nomination as well.  He is your quintessential teenage boy: he plays hockey, is part of a terrible garage band, and is dating two girls at once, and yet he's forced to grow up after his father's death.  While he tries to maintain a normal school and social life, the events that happened slowly eats away at him from the inside out, culminating to a truly heart-wrenching scene between Hedges and Affleck that you won't soon forget.

Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan gives us a truly original experience, as the movie was directed and written by him, which means it's not a prequel, sequel, film from a book, remake or reboot.  This proves that wholly original movies can work, and can have a deep impact on the viewer.  The film focuses on several hard-hitting themes at once: the issues of parenting, dealing with being a foster parent, and especially learning the power of forgiveness - not just in forgiving people who've done wrong to you, but more importantly the power of forgiving yourself for past mistakes.  All of these themes are woven beautifully into an intrinsically cohesive whole, and the result is a tragically beautiful tapestry you could find in any high-end art gala.

The Summary:
Combining Oscar-worthy acting with a deeply personal, close-to-home story, "Manchester By the Sea" is a rare film that hits incredibly close to home, and leaves you with an experience you won't soon forget.

The Score: A+