Manchester by the Sea

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, Tate Donovan, Josh Hamilton, Matthew Broderick
Directed by: Kenneth Lonergan
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Casey Affleck) reluctantly takes in his nephew (Lucas Hedges) after the boy's father (Kyle Chandler) dies.

Review:

Tim: It's hard for me to describe how much I love Manchester by the Sea. It's been a long time since I've seen such a powerful, believable story about complex, flawed human beings. This is a dark, heartbreaking story that also touches on hope and love. It feels like such a real, authentic look at multi-faceted people. The whole thing feels so real. Maybe some of the impact comes from living in the Northeast, but everything you see in this film felt so authentic- there's people just like this, people struggling with dark pasts, with flaws they can't seem to shake. There are broken relationships that will never mend, no matter how badly we want them to. All of these complex human emotions and relationships are beautifully captured in this wonderful film.

Honestly, I'm still so blown away by this movie. This is a perfect example of why I love movies with an obsessive passion. In 2 hours and 17 minutes, we're transported to New England, we meet and fall in love with these broken characters. We laugh and cry as we watch them struggle to survive, to do the right thing, to make life a little better, a little more tolerable. This is a movie that makes you reflect on the fragility of the human condition and yet how much strength it takes to overcome the darkness. I loved this movie.

I have to applaud the remarkable cast. The lion's share of the credit goes to Casey Affleck, winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor. He gives one of the absolute best performances I've ever seen. There wasn't one moment in this film where it felt like he was acting. He radiates authenticity and I truly believed he was this character. It's a quiet, reserved, yet stunning portrayal. I was so happy he won the Academy Award for one of the great performances I've seen. He was nothing short of incredible. Lucas Hedges gives a very strong performance as well- I enjoyed the interactions he had with Affleck. Michelle Williams is only in the film for a few minutes, but she creates a massive impact with every second of her screen time. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone make as big an impact as she does with so little time. Kyle Chandler gave a great performance in a small role. It was fun seeing Gretchen Mol and Matthew Broderick in smaller roles as well. The cast in this film was impossibly good.

I do want to mention perhaps the best scene of the film- a conversation (or attempted conversation) between Affleck and Williams. There's so much anguish, so much boiling emotion and such attempts at restraint- it's one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen. It's remarkable and I'll never forget the stunning exchange between them. Luckily, every scene in the film isn't filled with such heartbreak. There's a lot of humor and lighter moments to balance things out. Director Kenneth Lonergan does a fantastic job bringing this film to light.

Great movies come in all shapes and sizes, but Manchester by the Sea surpasses so many of them. It's not a perfect movie, but it's a dark, emotional, powerful one. It's easily one of the very best films of 2016 and belongs in the upper echelon of films. This movie was incredible and I think it was better than Best Picture winner Moonlight.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Moonlight