Manchester by the Sea, 2016.
Directed by Kenneth Lonergan.
Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges and Matthew Broderick.
SYNOPSIS:
Working as a janitor, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) has his life turned upside down by the sudden death of his older brother. It’s a double shock when he discovers he’s been made guardian to his teenage nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). And the boy has no intention of leaving his home for a new life with his uncle.
Casey Affleck’s irresistible charge towards this year’s Best Actor Oscar makes it all too easy to view Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea as a one performance movie. But the truth is more complex and multi-layered.
From the outside, the story of a man forced into becoming his nephew’s legal guardian doesn’t sound like much of a story. But this isn’t a film relying on pure narrative: it’s an emotional journey, one that both needs and takes time. The setting is a New England fishing community, all washed out colours and cold landscapes, where Joe Chandler (Kyle Chandler) is Lee’s older brother, the more reliable and respected of the two. Flashbacks show us their respective lives – Lee with his wife Randie (Michelle Williams) and their children, Joe’s shaky relationship with wife Elise (Gretchen Mol) and his health problems, and the brothers’ precarious fishing business.
Those flashbacks are essential to understanding the story, particularly why getting more than a few words out of the now taciturn Lee is akin to pulling teeth. Lonergan’s finely crafted script encourages us to speculate further as we also discover that he’s not liked in the town and his return to sort out Joe’s affairs isn’t in the least bit welcome. He’s frustratingly withdrawn, borderline rude, even refusing general offers to socialise. The only times he emerges from his shell is when he gets blind drunk in a bar and picks a fight with the first person who catches his eye. It doesn’t matter who they are, he just wants to fight.
The reason is a devastatingly tragic accident, one that destroyed his marriage. From his perspective, what made it worse is that he didn’t commit any legal offence in causing it, so he’s permanently consumed by guilt, despises himself and is constantly looking for punishment. Which is why we’re watching a man who never smiles, speaks almost in monosyllables and has all the miseries of the world heaped on his drooping shoulders.
Taking on the guardianship of his nephew means Lee has to deal with other people, yet he continues to hold back at the start. Patrick, on the other hand, seems to be holding up well under the circumstances. Too well. The inevitable moment arrives when something small goes wrong and he completely breaks down. It’s just one example of Lucas Hedges’ impressive performance as an articulate young man who’s unafraid to speak what he sees is the truth and his EE Rising Star Award nomination last week is well deserved. A stroppy teenager he most definitely is not.
Lonergan has created a solemn and almost unbearably moving examination of guilt and grief, one that’s a gift to the entire cast, not just Affleck. His Lee is his own worst enemy and difficult to like, but it’s impossible not to feel some sympathy with him, even if it is coupled with frustration. It’s not the only praiseworthy piece of acting. Michelle Williams as his ex-wife is suffering the same agonies, but trying to cope with them in different ways. Kyle Chandler is the brother who was everything Lee wanted to be but never could. And, quietly in the background, is C J Wilson as the reliable George, in a performance so credible and subtle that he looks like he’s stepped straight off the brothers’ fishing boat.
Manchester by the Sea may be unglamorous, unassuming even, but it’s also heart rending in its depth and understanding. It looks set to take over Spotlight’s mantle as the quiet film of the year but, just like its predecessor, its maturity means it will create more than a little noise. In its own, distinctive way.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Freda Cooper – Follow me on Twitter, check out my movie blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Pictures.
Originally published January 10, 2017. Updated November 14, 2019.
