At two hours and 17 minutes, “Manchester by the Sea” captures a slice (or slices) of life delving deep in to our emotional territory and the preciousness of our lives. Of course, immense tragedy is the price paid to see that sentimentality and hope ultimately persevere, except for our main Bostonian, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck). The case is much different for Lee, who—after hearing of his brother’s passing—is left with the inconvenient responsibility of caring for his 16-year-old nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges).
Lee, before receiving the news, lives like a phantom, merely passing by life as a daytime plumber and a nighttime alcoholic. His mundane routine is the result of a previous tragedy, (revealed about halfway through the film) one that challenges the process of overcoming extreme pain, grief and guilt. Lee wears catastrophe like a mask, speaks only in a dull, quiet murmur, and shuts out all people showing even the slightest interest. Casey Affleck’s performance is perfectly executed and controlled throughout the entire film. A lot of time is spent focused on faces, and though those raw emotions are typically hardest to make believable, it’s something that this film (and few others) does so well. You can see the pain in Affleck’s eyes, hear the tremble in his voice, and feel the subtlety in his gestures—and yes, it is the best performance of the year (sorry, Denzel).
Much of the film is spent between Lee and Patrick, sorting out the logistics of how to continue life after such tragedy, but humor and quick-witted sarcasm is never sacrificed. The back-and-forth dynamic between the two make up most of the screen time, and a lot of it is equally funny; the kind of funny that mocks disaster—like proposing to store your dead father in the back seat of your freezing car. The enormous and dramatic struggles faced by these characters are indeed the backdrop for the film, but it’s the frivolous and petty post-family-death activities that garner so much more significance.
Taking Patrick to band practice, choosing a casket, and reviving a broken-down family boat don’t seem all that intriguing, that is, until you’ve come to identify with and feel for these lovable (and at times, flawed) Boston people. And that feeling creeps up on you, until you’re left crying with them at a mental breakdown by the freezer, cringing with them at an awkward dinner, and hoping for them at a quiet funeral. This film brings about a natural feeling of empathy and sadness, a kind that makes us, as the viewers, feel even more alive.
“Manchester by the Sea”, directed by Kenneth Lonergan (“You Can Count on Me,” “Margaret”) revolves around tragedy and acceptance, pain and recovery. It observes an individual whose life is broken, paired with a gloomy Massachusetts background, and with a relentlessly sad narrative. It’s not a cute movie that shows the comeback of some sad guy, and it’s hardly uplifting, but it is consistently real and unforgiving, much like our own lives. And sure, never ending pain and suffering isn’t the best motive to rush to the theater (unless of course you’re watching “Saw”) but it’s a sort of manageable grief that is unanimously relatable, even if we’d rather pretend it didn’t exist. But it is indeed those tragedies which make the rest of life so beautiful, right?
I give “Manchester by the Sea” a 9/10.
