Manchester by the Sea is the second high profile film this awards season dealing with recovery from loss and heartbreak. Unlike Nocturnal Animals, this much hyped entry from Kenneth Lonergan doesn’t have a story or characters that really pulled me in and kept me engaged.
Casey Affleck plays Lee Chandler, brother to Joe Chandler (played by Kyle Chandler), who is forced to take care of his nephew and Joe’s son (Patrick, played primarily by Lucas Hedges) after Joe’s untimely death. Affleck does a good job playing the emotionally closed off and distant Lee, haunted by his own family tragedy which we see unfold eventually. The flashbacks showing Lee’s descent into the man we meet in the beginning and his brother’s attempts to carry him back up run parallel with this broken Lee attempting to do the same with his nephew. Still carrying this cross (and a recurring background image that appears constantly which I can’t discuss without spoiling a plot point uses the crucifixion of Christ and the two thieves as a metaphor for Lee’s emotional turmoil), Lee tries to wade through his own inability to move on from loss in order to reach his nephew. Manifesting itself in physical outbursts whenever confronted by the memory of this tragedy, Lee eventually releases his pain enough to provide normalcy for his nephew moving forward. The ending here feels unearned and comes pretty quickly after a bar brawl where Lee is nursed back to health by friends. It just felt too quick and like nothing happened to get us there.
Michelle Williams, who plays Lee’s ex-wife Randi, does a good job with her brief supporting role and excels in the most emotional scene of the movie. Lucas Hedges also does well as a teenage dealing with the sudden death of a parent through both bravado that provides comedic relief and betrays his suppressed emotions that only truly surface once. In the end, Hedges’ Patrick becomes his uncle’s support in a brief moment that supplies the turning point for Lee to be able to deal with his own grief to some extent.
Still, despite good performances, Manchester by the Sea did not live up to the hype for me. I suspected going in that it’s rave reviews were from professional critics lauding obvious bland Oscar bait for the chance to be pretentious “film buffs” and the film showed me nothing to convince me otherwise. In another weak year for leading men, I guess Casey Affleck’s performance as Lee is worthy of an Oscar nomination but I sincerely doubt it will top Denzel Washington’s turn in Fences or even Ryan Gosling’s turn in La La Land. I’m already way more impressed by Jake Gyllenhall in Nocturnal Animals even though I’m seemingly alone on that one. Similarly, Hedges does well as Patrick Chandler and this will certainly count as his breakout role but I’m not sure he’s worthy of a nomination in the hyper competitive Best Supporting Actor category. Michelle Williams does great with her small amount of material and would be worthy of a nom, but Best Supporting Actress this year is basically Viola Davis’ coronation.
All in all, Manchester by the Sea would be good for film enthusiasts to see, if only because it’s a top contender this season. If you’re a layman or casual movie goer, I’d wait until it pops up on a premium cable channel or at your local RedBox.
Image: Amazon Studios
