Directed/Written By: Kenneth Lonergan
Cast: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 minutes
Cinema portrayals of angry people are not usually enjoyable entertainment yet we are fascinated by films that dwell entirely on simmering angst. Manchester by the Sea (2016) is such a film. Perplexing, unsettling, yet engaging, it is a story without joy that is made bearable by outstanding performances and superb cinematography.
The plotline has a simple core narrative framed by frequent and abrupt flashbacks that gradually piece together a jigsaw-like story. We meet Lee (Casey Affleck) as a handyman and depressive loner whose temper blows over at little provocation. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that he lives in self-exile because of a horrible family tragedy he caused. He has become emotionally hollowed out and unable to relate to people. Suddenly his brother has a fatal heart attack and his will names Lee as executor and guardian of 16 year-old son Patrick (Lucas Hedges). But to accept this responsibility, Lee must move back to the idyllic seaside town of Manchester by the Sea which is full of traumatic memories, including of his attempted suicide, his divorced wife, and people who are wary of him. He stays for the funeral, drinks heavily, lashes out physically, argues with his teenage nephew, and wants to cut and run. Gradually, he becomes emotionally re-connected with family and place through the experience of caring for the typically full-of-himself nephew. Lee’s traumatic past makes way for new beginnings, new relationships, and the hope of redemption.
If you look for originality in storytelling, there is little of it here. Painful battles with inner demons is a cliché, and fighting several at once is simply a compound cliché not something new. Half of this film is spent on assembling the narrative jigsaw so we can understand what makes Lee the way he is, and the other half is spent on standard melodrama tropes about re-connecting by caring for someone else. However, it is the casting, characterisation, and cinematography that save this film from being just another story of angry people destabilised by tragedy. Casey Affleck does trauma and ambivalence very effectively. His bemused tolerance of his nephew’s demands and sexual exploits becomes the emotional scaffold that guides his calming from pot-boiling anger to resigned acceptance that life must go on. Lucas Hedges is the perfect foil for Casey Affleck, and both are helped by a strong support ensemble.
Brilliant acting by Affleck does not hide the film’s melodramatic predictability. But this slow essay on anger would be more unsettling were it not for its joyful filming. Trauma is calmed and un-likable characters forgiven when all are nestled against beautiful images of bobbing fishing vessels lapping the shores of charming Manchester by the Sea. The camerawork visually warms the film and helps bind its elements into an engaging story of loss and redemption.
Richard Alaba, PhD
CineMuse Films
Member, Australian Film Critics Association
Sydney, Australia
Have you seen ‘Manchester By The Sea’? Well, what did you think?
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Great review! This movie was such a struggle for me…I don’t understand all the praise around it, honestly.
I know what you mean; the critics tend to praise it while audiences are polarised. For me, its a strong, bleak, and joyless film.
I can totally love joyless and bleak though, but this one was just lifeless for me.
3.5/5 was also my rating. Agree there’s little originality. I admired the acting and the story has its moments, but to me was a bit oscar-baity. I liked the humor in the melancholy, something Hell or High Water also attempted this year. But Manchester’s characters were not as interesting or likeable as Lonergan’s previous film Margaret.
That sums it up nicely Chris.
I personally feel that it’s very difficult to tackle such plotlines. I know there is nothing new about the story but it’s the screenplay and direction that has made it a strong movie that it is!
The plot is flimsy and predictable and the film is about 20 minutes too long but I enjoyed it. I thought the reveal (the fire) came too early in the film and I was expecting another twist in the story that never came. Great music. I score it 7 out of 10.
Interesting point about the timing of the reveal Andrew. It teases the audience into expecting something even bigger to be revealed, then leaves them hanging, unsatisfied.
I expected a more dramatic ending for sure!
This is the kind of film that I’ll probably never seek out to see at the theater but maybe when it’s on TV, I’ll watch it.
Hmm, I loved this film (loved may be the wrong word I guess). Great review although my thoughts were more positive.
My thoughts are similar to yours. Very well acted but can’t get past how familiar the story is.