Some people find a way to pick themselves up from the rubble of a personal tragedy and rebuild a life for themselves. Others are permanently broken, and they die in spirit if not in body.
"Manchester by the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan's elegiac and deeply heartfelt new film, contains characters who are representative of both of the above responses. The tragedy befalls the characters portrayed by Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, and the film follows Affleck's character as he unexpectedly becomes guardian of his nephew while trying to exorcise his own personal demons. I've liked Casey Affleck in some things and very much disliked him in others, but here he gives a galvanic performance, one quiet but sustained howl of anguish, that's easily one of the best of the year. Williams gets a much smaller role, but she makes a huge impression, and one scene in particular between her and Affleck in the later half of the movie would justify Oscars for both actors all by itself.
Lonergan's screenplay doesn't make a false move. This film is largely about inarticulate people trying to process extremely complicated emotions, and they remain inarticulate -- they don't suddenly express their feelings in nicely phrased speeches in order to bring the film to tidy resolutions. The movie's final point, that broken people sometimes just stay broken no matter how badly others want them to have a happy ending, is certainly not uplifting, but there's something refreshing about how bracingly honest it is.
Grade: A
"Manchester by the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan's elegiac and deeply heartfelt new film, contains characters who are representative of both of the above responses. The tragedy befalls the characters portrayed by Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, and the film follows Affleck's character as he unexpectedly becomes guardian of his nephew while trying to exorcise his own personal demons. I've liked Casey Affleck in some things and very much disliked him in others, but here he gives a galvanic performance, one quiet but sustained howl of anguish, that's easily one of the best of the year. Williams gets a much smaller role, but she makes a huge impression, and one scene in particular between her and Affleck in the later half of the movie would justify Oscars for both actors all by itself.
Lonergan's screenplay doesn't make a false move. This film is largely about inarticulate people trying to process extremely complicated emotions, and they remain inarticulate -- they don't suddenly express their feelings in nicely phrased speeches in order to bring the film to tidy resolutions. The movie's final point, that broken people sometimes just stay broken no matter how badly others want them to have a happy ending, is certainly not uplifting, but there's something refreshing about how bracingly honest it is.
Grade: A