Manchester by the Sea (2016)

GREAT ! One of the best films ever. Phenomenal charactarisation and acting especially from Casey Affleck. I was mesmerized by this film. I felt like I was reading a novel, there was so much to contemplate and digest. I did not know what to expect or where the plot would lead. Captured the complexity of life and tragedy in a masterful way. Excellent.

Fmovies: In spite of a most annoying & pretentious score, this was a very moving film--actually a mouth-gaping appreciation of Casey Affleck. He carries the film, along with the actor playing his brother, Michelle Williams, & his nephew. Some scenes early on seem to plod on, and the pivotal scene of Affleck's past (that will forever haunt him) is reconstructed by voice-over rather than __seeing__ the evidence, which becomes a little disconcerting, considering how important it is. I was really impressed by Affleck's character, who seemed incapable of enjoying anything in his life. His alcoholism is palpable, as well as his violence, but he plays a wholly realized character--infinitely better than he did in "Gone Baby Gone." I hope he wins an Oscar for this role: I've never seen him better. And Michelle Williams is wonderful, especially in a near-conclusion confrontation with Affleck: that alone is Oscar-worthy. It's beautifully shot in the actual Manchester-by-the-Sea, and it's definitely worth seeing.

I was very pleased to snag a last minute returned, lone available ticket to the European premiere of this on Saturday as I'd heard a lot of great things about this film and it had been sold out.

The premise is simple: when his brother Joe dies, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is forced to take care of his teenage nephew in his hometown, from which he moved away years earlier to escape his demons from a trauma years earlier.

It becomes clear early on that Lee had life figured out years earlier. The film jumps between the past and the present, revealing a time where Lee was married, spent a lot of time with his friends and family (especially his brother and his nephew) and was content with life. But while jumping between the two periods of time, the film travels along at a slow, tense pace, tentatively revealing facets of Lee's past and present personalities (which are remarkably different) before hitting the audience with the full force of what exactly what made him run from his hometown.

Casey Affleck is astonishingly good and it's no wonder that there is a strong early buzz around his performance. He essentially plays two different characters, a man before trauma and a man after. The 'before' in flashbacks is fairly simple, a relatively friendly and happy-go-lucky guy who spends a lot of time with his friends and family, has a close relationship with his nephew, etc. But where he excels is in the quiet desperation of the present-day Lee Chandler. With this character there are only rare moments of outward emotion - but Affleck plays it so that it is painfully clear just how much hurt Lee is keeping inside. Best Actor Oscar nomination, and highly possible win, incoming.

Despite the serious subject matter, there is a surprising warmth that permeates the film. This is a film primarily about a man forced to confront his demons, yes, but it is also a film about family and the ties that bind us to our hometown. There is a terrific chemistry between Affleck's Lee and Lucas Hedges, who plays his nephew Patrick. Make no mistake, despite its subject matter this film is often hilarious, with the dialogue between Lee and his nephew providing most of the frequent outbursts of laughter in the cinema. Owing to his detachment and fear, Lee is fairly useless as a caregiver to Patrick, who in turn pushes his limits in being allowed to do whatever he wants (mostly chasing girls - there are particularly hilarious scenes when he is trying to get laid).

Affleck's Lee is also forced to confront his demons in the form of his now ex-wife Randi, played by the ever-brilliant Michelle Williams. It's actually a relatively small part, but a key one, with an especially important scene that is played beautifully by both Affleck and Williams. In the Q&A that took place before the film, Williams talked about how she had spent 15 years wanting to work with 'Kenny' Lonergan, the director, as he is such a beautiful writer, and so she jumped at the chance before she'd even really heard detail about the part.

And it's clear to see why she would be so desperate to work with Kenneth Lonergan, whose writing and directing for this film is gentle, warm and heartbreaking in one package. It's bleak, but hints at hope. It's understated, but breaks out in small moments of agony without overdoing it (the middle of the film is particularly gut-wrenching). I would be very surprised not to see nominations in his direction also.

Beautiful writing and directing from Ke

Manchester by the Sea fmovies. These type of films don't come around that often, and for good reason. It takes focus and effort to come up with stories and themes that touch deeper than the usual Hollywood dirge. The story-line is completely unpredictable , unlike 95% of the films out there.

What is most intriguing about M B T S , is the way in which highly depressing themes are kept in check with humour, intelligent scripting and a subtle feel good factor, which seems to creep in at exactly the right time. The overall feel is also kept balanced by the intricacies of the relationships between various characters. Affleck has taken his game to the next level , his character and mannerisms are completely believable -he is submerged into type.

As a couple of mid 40 somethings, we grew tired of the typical film genres some years ago. We long for films like this, and having seen many of the nominated films for this year (bafta), this one is by far the clear leader. Hacksaw ridge is just another glorification of war, predictable, overly violent and boring, silence is good OK but not special and the list goes on. Manchester by the sea deserves recognition for standing out in a sea of mediocrity

Wow! I'd heard all about the Oscar hype surrounding this film but to be honest, while I thought I would be seeing a solid and well-made indie film, I went into it without great expectations of having an 'enjoyable' time: the trailer had "angst" written all over it. And – sure – it is emotional and harrowing in places. However, I was completely knocked out by the depth, the intelligence and the humour of this masterpiece.

'Family troubles' is a common trope for the movies, and I was strongly reminded at times in watching this movie of a multi-Oscar winning classic of my youth: Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" back in 1980. In that film the relationship between parents (Mary Tyler-Moore and Donald Sutherland) and their teenage son (Timothy Hutton) is rocked by the accidental death of another family member. Similarly, in "Manchester by the Sea" a drifting handyman Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck, "Triple 9", "Interstellar") gets the shocking news that his only brother Joe (Kyle Chandler, "The Wolf of Wall Street") has suddenly passed away, leaving behind a mid-teens son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) with no-one to look after him.

With the other option being an unstable and ex-alcoholic mother Elise (Gretchen Mol) – now divorced and living in a strictly pious household with new husband Jeffrey (Matthew Broderick) – Joe has legally plumped for naming Lee as the boy's guardian. This is much to Lee's surprise and annoyance. For Lee is a man-adrift: an antisocial loner with a very short fuse. Having any sort of responsibility is not in his game plan.

With the ground too frozen to bury his brother, Lee is forced to remain in Manchester-by-the-Sea for a few weeks: a town he can't stand and a town that, for some reason, can't stand him. Can Lee's attitude be softened by his lively and over-sexed nephew? Or will he just continue his emotional and social decline towards a gutter and a brown-bag? Where this film surprises – with a strong kick to the gut – is that while I have described the high-level story in the paragraphs above that the trailer depicts, there is a whole other dimension to the tale that is hidden and truly astonishing. No spoilers, but if you are not shocked and moved by it, then you need your humanity chip reset.

Casey Affleck is Oscar-nominated now for Best Actor and I would love to see him win for this. I had a real go at his brother, Ben, for a lack of facial variation in his performance in "Live By Night". Here, while Casey has a similar dour and pretty rigid demeanour, his performance is chalk-and-cheese compared to Ben. He channels a shut-down rage in his eyes that is both haunting and disturbing in equal measure.

Young Lucas Hedges – overlooked by the BAFTAs (he is in the "Rising Star" category) but yesterday nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar – is equally strong, burying his teenage grief in guitars, sex and smart phones in a highly believable way.

Supporting roles are equally strong, with Michelle Williams – albeit only having limited screen time – delivering truly memorable scenes, notably the street encounter with Lee (as featured on the poster) which is electrifying. She is also Oscar nominated for the role.

What really makes these performances shine is the elegant directing by Kenneth Lonergan, better known for his screenplays on films like "Analyze This" and "Gangs of New York". He gives the a

After the sudden death of his older brother, Lee, played by Casey Affleck, is made legal guardian of his son Patrick. He then returns to his hometown and is forced to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community he was born and raised in.

Kenneth Lonergan is such an extraordinary and talented writer; his beautifully, and richly, textured drama draws upon the timeless themes of recovery, redemption, and the persistence of guilt in such a way that feels fresh. The emotion is never overbearing for the sake of being overbearing, rather it feels all too real, which is a credit to the writing as much as it is to the fantastic performances.

This is the 'Casey Affleck show' from beginning to end; you can just give him the 'Best Actor' Oscar right now and save everyone a whole lot of trouble. He radiates this aura of subtle magnetism so brilliantly and effortlessly; there's not a single emotion on the spectrum that goes unexploited.

As much as the film is about Lee and his internal journey from tragedy to something a lot more hopeful, it's also about his nephew, played by Lucas Hedges, who has a very bright future, and his personal struggle to cope with his father's death. Despite having a small yet significant part in the film, Michelle Williams' performance is a treasure to behold. There's one scene, in particular, where she got everyone in attendance wishing they brought a tissue.

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, and unannounced, cutting between past and present, as well as its unwavering 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 this guy 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.

Regardless of the second half's slackening pace and film's familiar DNA, this is without a doubt the most personal and heart wrenching film of 2016 thus far. Maybe even the best.