Review of Manchester by the Sea by Kenneth Lonergan

 

The hype is justified. This movie deserves all the accolades it earned and more. Casey Affleck plays the part of Lee Chandler a man who is an emotionless zombie in the present and a warm husband and father in the backstory that runs parallel throughout the film. What has happened to this man to render him so cold? When (in the present) his brother dies and the legal guardianship of his nephew (played by the phenomenal Lucas Hedges) is assigned to him, the films reveals why the man is broken and I must say that I’ve rarely felt so gut-punched as I‘ve felt here. Then the real movie starts: how can a fractured man give a life and stability to an 18 year old when he is barely alive himself?

The acting by Affleck and Hedges is of another level; no one over acts, no one tries hard to kindle emotions by false desperation. No, that’s not how falling in the abyss works. People still make jokes, have coming-of-age awkward sex, go shopping, forget where they’ve parked their car, cook lunch... You get my point: this movie depicts the real human condition.
In the hands of an average director this movie would have fallen in the Hollywood trap and given us a Heartwarming Awakening-type resolution that makes us go to sleep feeling all fuzzy. But no, the material here is handled with the respect it deserves by the director Lonergan. I have as a scene burning in my memory that takes place between Casey Affleck and Michell Williams, it kicked me to the ground with its deep and honest portrayal of the fragility of human nature. The message is simple: some wounds will never heal and closure is a utopia.
Do yourself a favor and watch it; it’s one of the masterpieces of the decade.