When I reviews the film Silence for this Blog, I mentioned that it was a difficult film, in that it asked hard questions and offered no easy answers. Manchester By The Sea is another difficult film. It's a film dealing with grief, heartbreak and like Silence, offers no easy answers.
In a cliched film of this type, the Uncle and nephew would take a while to bond, perhaps after overcoming difficulties throwing at them. But writer and director Kenneth Lonergan refuses to bow to cliche. Manchester By The Sea is a film that doesn't follow convention and is all the better for it.
The key to it are the performances. Casey Affleck's performance is astonishing. It's not a standout, showy performance. Instead, he plays Lee as someone unable to communicate with others well. In a series of flashbacks we see how he was before he was struck by tragedy. Those events have left him broken so when his brother dies, he really doesn't know how to handle it. When he finds out about what his brother has arranged, for him to be guardian to his nephew Patrick, he doesn't want the responsibility.
He's matched by Lucas Hedges as Patrick. Whereas Lee can't express himself, Patrick seems to let the death of his father brush over him, trying to carry on with his life as normal. Only occasionally does his father's death really affect him. Hedges is great in the role, at times as if channelling a young Matt Damon.
Michelle Williams plays Randi Chandler, Lee's ex-wife. Through flashbacks we see their relationship and the tragedy that struck that destroyed them both. Williams doesn't get much screentime, but is very good and a scene where Randi and Lee meet by accident is truly a heartbreaking moment in the film, in part down to the performances.
The supporting cast including Kyle Chandler, Tate Donovan, Gretchen Mol and Matthew Broderick are all good, even though some are little more than cameo roles.
Lonergan as director takes his time telling his story. It's not flashy direction, it's understated and that helps concentrate the film on the actors instead, which the story does very well indeed. As writer Lonergan, as I said, avoids the cliches you would normally get in a film like this, giving the film a more 'real' feeling instead. When revealing past events, Lonergan never throws in plot developments just for shock. The reveal of the source of Lee and Randi's tragedy is truly devastating. Even the ending, or rather non-ending works well, even though there were some in the audience a little frustrated by it. However, the film for all it's hard look at grief and heartbreak, also has moments that are quite humorous too.
The film is well shot and the score is good too. It's a very well made film without a doubt.
But like I said at the beginning, this is not a film to enjoy in the normal sense. It's a film that takes a look at a very difficult topic and asks questions for the audience themselves to answer. Manchester By The Sea is a brilliantly acted, written and directed film, one that will linger in your thoughts for some time after.
It's a superb film.
Rating - 4/5
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