Manchester by the Sea
A janitor in Boston, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck: Triple 9), sleepwalks through life. After work, he guzzles beer, preferring bar fights to women.
Though Lee doesn’t seek change, it finds him. His older brother drops dead, leaving a commercial fishing boat, a big house in their hometown and a 16-year-old son. Named guardian of Patrick (Lucas Hedges: Anesthesia), Lee has no idea how to help the boy with his grief or how to parent a teen who’s juggling girlfriends and used to getting his way with caustic sarcasm.
Making Lee’s task harder is his small hometown. Tragedy ruined his marriage and sent him scuttling to Boston. Home again where everyone knows the pain of his past, Lee encounters his own demons.
This moving, funny drama about the power of family and the ways people cope with grief is one of the best films of the year. Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan (Margaret) picks apart the family dynamics, slowly revealing each member’s past and pain. Each flashback builds the narrative, developing a complex family history.
Dialog is sharp and often quite funny. Lonergan’s knack for dysfunctional families shows in every word Lee or Patrick speak. These caustic men are terrified of their sadness. Their sarcasm and biting judgments are their desperate front.
Affleck carries the movie with a nuanced and deeply personal performance that should make him a contender come awards season. By keeping Lee almost affectless, he shows just how damaged the character is. It’s a dramatic contrast to the Lee in flashbacks, who’s hapless but full of life.
As Lee’s ex-wife, Michelle Williams (Certain Women) also offers a stellar performance. She is his opposite, an open wound of emotion and pain. As she feels so acutely, she can’t understand how Lee shuts himself down. The two work beautifully together in a fascinating, painful dynamic.
Manchester by the Sea will stir you, but it offers no easy answers.
Great Drama • R • 137 mins.