MANCHESTER by the SEA  3.5***

     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," writer and director Kenneth Lonergan's  deeply heartfelt new film, contains characters who are representative of both of the above types of people. 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 after his older brother dies, while he is trying to exorcise his own personal demons. C. Affleck gives an amazing understated performance…. one quiet but sustained howl of anguish, that's easily one of the best of the year. Michelle Williams gets a much smaller role, but she makes a huge impression, particularly in one scene  between her and Affleck in the latter half of the movie which is truly outstanding !!

Unlike many big-budget studio movies, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA is not afraid to make the audience work and test the viewer's patience with its constant cutting between past and present, as well as its unravelling of character background and motivation. In fact, one of its best aspects is the lack of close-ups. Almost everything is filmed from afar, which reflects Lee's emotional distancing. And it's not until later where you finally find out why Lee has detached himself from the rest of the world. Then, from that point on, you're in his head; you watch the film unfold from a point-of-view almost entirely foreign to how you viewed it at first. 

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  honest it is.

Despite this being a big “downer” of a movie, it is without a doubt one of the most personal and heart wrenching films of 2016. It WILL be nominated for Oscars for Best Movie, Best Director, Best Original Screen Play, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress and Actor.

Rated “R” for language with a lot of ‘f’ words through-out.

Clark

PS: I made a mistake and took my wife to see this one. I should have previewed it better. She almost walked out . Said it was the most boring movie she has seen in a long time and would give it minus stars !!!!!!   I barely made up for it by taking her to one of her favorite restaurants plus I gave her the TV remote when we got home !!!