Review of Manchester by the Sea (2016) by Pedro J — 03 Apr 2018

Are you feeling depressed about life? Cheer up! This guy is way worse...

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA.

This was the film that, along with Birth of a Nation (R.I.P), had the earliest Oscar buzz. From the start there were promises of gold for this feature film who featured the "other Affleck" as the main character. This, along with the actual accolades and Oscar noms, caused my expectations to be high and the film didn't quite live up to them. This film is what you'd call an "Oscar movie", i.e. a very good film that the Oscars overhype, considering it one of the best of the year. And it really is one of the best dramas of the year, but if you take genre and foreign films into consideration, it will rank lower. The movie is too long, its replay value is near to 0 and it's too common and quiet in nature. Like the boat being rocked in the beginning, the movie just stands. Despite this, the movie is so grounded on reality, that it grips you in for a sad ride. This is achieved mainly by three things: the realistic performances of Williams, Hedges but chiefly Casey Affleck who delivers a heartfelt and inherently miserable character study. Hollywood is in dire need of performances like this which depict how a person would react to a situation, not how an actor would perform it. He's just a regular man inner reacting to the pille on of sad situations (in that sense I compare it to Hank's Sully); the other thing is Lonergan's direction who tries to be inventive and select the shots according to emotions, not according to action and he isn't afraid to stay far and cut slow when necessary; the final thing is the film's strongest asset, the screenplay. While the structure provides meaning, the dialogue (and its lack) are a reminder that people can talk realistically on film. It's smart but never quipy, it's complex but never pretencious. Furthermore, the use of music is something to behold proving that sometimes you don't need a composer for every second. It's a wellcrafted, depressingly Oscarmade movie that you'll watch once and say "ok, that's enough". Still, worth the watch!