Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, CJ Wilson, and Gretchen Mole
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 147 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2017
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This American drama tells the story of an uncle, who is asked to look after his nephew when the boy’s father dies from a heart attack. The film has accumulated a host of awards, and was awarded Best Picture of 2016 by the National Board of Review. It was photographed in the New England Region of USA.
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) works as a janitor in Boston, Massachusetts, when he hears from a family friend, George (CJ Wilson), that his older brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler), has been taken to hospital one and a half hours drive up north. He heads home, but Joe dies before he arrives.
It becomes his job to tell Joe’s 16-yr.old son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) who lives in Manchester-by-the-sea, that his father has passed away. He learns from the will Joe left behind that he is expected to take guardianship of Patrick. He knows, however, that taking this role will be especially difficult for him because he is haunted by memories of the past. Lee attempted suicide after the death of his children. His ex-wife, Randi (Michelle Williams) holds him responsible for what happened to their two daughters and son when their house burned down in a fire he inadvertently caused.
When a delay in the funeral forces Lee to remain in Manchester, complex family dynamics start to unfold. Patrick sees Lee as cold and rejecting, and he resents his uncle wanting to leave him behind. After the funeral, Lee runs into Randi who tells him that she feels bad about the way she has treated him, but she is engaged and expecting another person’s child. Her interaction with Lee is a key emotional scene in the movie. Their brief meeting in a Manchester street indicates to Lee that Randi still loves him, but he knows it is too late and turns away.
The film concludes with George and his wife agreeing to adopt Patrick, while Lee encourages Patrick to visit him whenever he wants to, back in Boston. Slowly, the past attachment between Patrick and Lee is restored, as also Patrick’s fractured relationship with his mother, Elise (Gretchen Mol), who had abandoned him years before. We know there will be problems, but the relationship begins to mend.
The film depicts the struggle of a community to cope with life inside it. Lee, for instance, is forced to deal with a past that has wrenched him tragically from those, who raised and cared for him. Casey Affleck is outstanding in the role of Lee. He is sullen, dark, tortured, hopeful, sad, and funny. He captures Lee’s character superbly.
This is a very moving film about human beings in crisis where emotions surface from the past to push people to cope. In the film, life fluctuates from melancholy and unhappiness to hope and joy. The film communicates hope as people, ideas and emotions grow out of the experiences of loss and grief to demonstrate survival. It is a film also about forgiveness and faith in people being able to endure. On many occasions, sadness looms, but then the film shifts tone to demonstrate that life is worth living. The film has great cinematography, and it uses background classical and jazz music very effectively to sensitively arouse emotional feelings.
This is a film that is directed wonderfully well by Kenneth Lonergan and it has a cast of characters that exactly fit the life that the film depicts. Good scripting and well-chosen flashbacks ensure that everything stays connected, and over the top there is a delightful layer of dry humour.
This must-see film emboldens the viewer by showing life faced honestly, and with humanity.
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