[yasr_overall_rating]
An uncle is forced to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy’s father dies.
Kenneth Lonergan’s, “Manchester by the Sea,” is definitely not a holiday movie pick me up despite the constant presence of snow and jovial flashback banter. It is however, achingly brilliant. Void of all the Hollywood ‘fixins,’ “Manchester by the Sea,” is more like peeping in on real and ragged life. It’s heavy, lacking the tidiness of resolution and hope. The weight of it fills the pit of your stomach with a boulder. It grounds you with a peculiar queasiness that only the brutishness of life can serve. Casey Affleck carries the weight and festering of tragedy deep in the marrow, giving one of realest performances of the year.
Casey Affleck is Lee Chandler, a solitary man trudging through life with the weight of his transgressions firmly rooted within him. There’s no redemption. No forgiveness. Just endless toil in janitorial work, bar fights, and solitude. It isn’t until Lee’s brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) suddenly dies that Lee must break away from his toiling and go back to his hometown to deal with the death of his brother and break the news to his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). It is soon revealed to Lee that he has been made the guardian of his nephew, much to his surprise and dismay.
Lee is faced with tragedy both old and new by coming back home. There’s a quiet struggle, a flicker of rage behind the eyes, an anxiety dragging on the skin. The familiarity of Lee is striking and yet he makes you nervous. The same reason you want to embrace him makes you recoil with a reserve of hesitation. He’s in the flesh in the raw, not looking to mend, only looking to just be; and it’s unnerving. As Lonergan drops backdrop on you, it makes sense. The anxiety that Lee induces is caused by the fact that Lee takes on the full weight of truth even though several instances have given him the opportunity to break free from it. He actively chooses not to. It’s daunting, and intimidating. There’s a natural inclination for self preservation in humans, and in essence Lee forgoes this. It’s powerful and refreshing although utterly bleak. But it’s what makes Lee a fascinating and powerful character. And Casey Affleck was flawless.
Affleck isn’t the only striking performance. Michelle Williams as Randi, Lee’s wife, is also superb as a plainspoken, rough around the edges but utterly sincere woman whose core was shaken by senseless tragedy. Her rage is electric and later her anxious meekness and sincerity is heartbreaking. Lucas Hedges as Patrick was interesting, and on par with both Affleck and Williams. His portrayal of a grieving teenage boy can’t help but make you laugh. He is inappropriately and perfectly sardonic; it’s business as usual. His subtle hints of grieving are notably authentic and you are affected.
You will not leave unscathed. “Manchester by the Sea,” eats at you without you even realizing it. You’ll leave the theater in a daze. The white noise will be suffocating. And the silence sharp. The uneasiness lasts for mere minutes before you realize it was worth it. “Manchester by the Sea,” is definitely worth it, and is absolutely one of the best films you’ll see this year.
In theaters Friday, November 25th
