Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Release Date: 13th January 2017
Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)
Melancholy-inducing Manchester by the Sea's attempts to tell a passionate story of tragedy, loss, and the importance of family in times of struggle, fall short; all that felt received was a mediocre presentation with a lack of convincing portrayals.
It is clear to see what Manchester by the Sea tried to achieve here; the plot follows the death of main character Lee Chandler's (Casey Affleck) brother, and his new-found guardianship of nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) - Lonergan envisioned a hard-hitting movie encapsulating real-life reactions to trauma, gripping the viewer until the bitter end.
The main storyline carries the predominant issue Lee faces - being left custody of his nephew after his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler) dies from a heart condition. Lee is incredibly reluctant about this and spends plenty of screentime trying to palm off said nephew on others, and the ending is inconclusive as to how this issue can really be resolved.
The faults in Manchester by the Sea include an unjustified runtime, near-emotionless acting (particularly Affleck) and some rather odd pacing; flashbacks occur frequently - detailing Lee's past and why he moved away from Manchester - but these flashbacks have no indication of timing so it is often unclear whether each scene is a flashback or part of present day events. Affleck's performance is wooden on the most part; the majority of intended powerful moments fall short with Lee - a brooding loner - just being portrayed disinterested and expressionless; mundane to watch, to say the least.
Casting decisions were not entirely on form either - both Lee's ex wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and Joe's ex wife Elise (Gretchen Mol) looked very similar (and had uncanny styling) so, particularly in one certain scene where only the back of her head was visible, it was unclear which character we were seeing.
The film did have its merits however; the location the film is set in was an excellent directing choice; the scenery was beautifully shot at times, and the writing of the story was touching to an extent, were it not for poor execution. Manchester by the Sea did have some comical moments as well - especially during the first half an hour of the film. It was a let down that this dissipated throughout the film because it appeared as though the movie couldn't decide if it was entirely sombre or if it had light-hearted aspects despite a dark plot-line.
The film succeeded in the sense that I did leave the cinema feeling melancholy - Affleck did display an on-screen presence of depression and angst; and there were times during the film that this did absolutely fit the tone, but not when there were attempts to show his compassionate side towards his nephew: which were key to the plot.
Manchester by the Sea's greatest fault is that it is mostly uneventful and uninspiring, I never found myself enthralled or anticipating what was to come - only waiting on the movie end. How Casey Affleck won a Golden Globe for his performance I remain uncertain - but one can appreciate he made some semblance of effort with respect of the material given.
Lucas Hedges' depiction was of note; it is disappointing that the character of Patrick Chandler was written merely as a bratty teenager (with an injection of lothario and absence of empathy) waiting on Lee to ferry him around above all else; reduced to an irritating on-screen presence.
The film is at times a bore to watch, as some plotlines don't go anywhere (perhaps in an attempt to simulate lifelike events), but the premise of the movie is commendable and despite an inconclusive ending, Manchester by the Sea was not completely awful.
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