This film opens with (and frequently returns to) lovely images of the waters just off Manchester-by-the-Sea, a small Massachusetts community. It struck me that through director Kenneth Lonergans eyes at least this place looks similar to many others around the world. In fact, it reminded me of the archipelago outside the small town in southern Sweden where I was born. That’s an interesting universal quality and that’s true for the film as a whole. What the leading character goes through is harrowing and would be obviously relatable wherever you go.
At the same time, grief is also a very individual, personal thing. In this case, Lonergan brings out the laughs.
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) works in Boston as a janitor and lives on his own, seemingly uninterested in making any connections with other human beings. One day he gets a phone call from back home in Manchester-by-the-Sea and learns that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) is in the hospital. Since Joe had a heart condition that everybody knew about, it comes as no great shock. Lee drives home, but his brother passes away before he reaches the hospital. Coming back home turns into an ordeal for Lee, not only because he’s mourning his brother and has to make all the funeral arrangements. It also stirs up heartbreaking memories of the family he once had… and then he learns that Joe in his will wanted him to move back home and be his 16-year-old son Patrick’s (Lucas Hedges) legal guardian until he turns 18. This is not welcome news for either Lee or Patrick.
No predictable conflict
That may sound like the set-up for a traditional drama or comedy where an odd couple realize after a few mishaps that they benefit from each other’s company. But Lonergan doesn’t make it that simple. There is no predictable conflict between the boy and his uncle; they like each other, even if they’ve drifted apart since Lee moved to Boston. Patrick has very clear, understandable reasons for not wanting to uproot his life in Manchester; in theory there is nothing stopping Lee from leaving Boston, but as we learn more through flashbacks how he lost his wife and children we begin to understand the depth of grief that he’s carrying and why it would be unbearable for him to move back to Manchester.
Lonergan takes his time telling this story and uses the flashbacks in a very structured way that increase our understanding of the characters and their history. Apart from Lee and Patrick getting to know each other again, we’re also introduced to Lee’s ex-wife (Michelle Williams) and how she’s struggling with the tragedy they share, and Elise (Gretchen Mol), Patrick’s mother, who went her own way a long time ago. Absorbing the past and watching how the characters are dealing with the consequences years later is very moving, entirely convincing and, perhaps surprisingly, often brutally funny. That is particularly true in the case of Lee and Patrick who are awkwardly struggling to get along. I feel like I haven’t properly appreciated Casey Affleck in the past, but he’s brilliantly cast here, using his whole body to convey the awful burden he’s carrying; his performance feels authentic throughout.
Williams is excellent as always, making the most of her smaller role as Lee’s ex-wife, a woman who’s had to make hard decisions about the relationship with her former husband. Hedges is also good as the teenager who’s doing his best to suppress his grief, while juggling two girlfriends and bantering with his uncle.
This is Lonergan’s third film as director (and the third one to have Matthew Broderick in the cast). Just like You Can Count on Me (2000) and Margaret (2011), Manchester by the Sea takes its characters and crises seriously but avoids utter darkness thanks to disarming humor and compassion.
Manchester by the Sea 2016-U.S. 137 min. Color. Produced by Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan. Cast: Casey Affleck (Lee Chandler), Michelle Williams (Randi), Kyle Chandler (Joe Chandler), Gretchen Mol, Lucas Hedges, Tate Donovan… Matthew Broderick.
Trivia: Co-executive produced by John Krasinski. Damon was originally set to play the lead.
Oscars: Best Actor (Affleck), Original Screenplay. Golden Globe: Best Actor (Affleck). BAFTA: Best Actor (Affleck), Original Screenplay.
Last word: “I was interested in someone who has endured something that was unbearable, but because of his attachments to the rest of his family, he can’t simply disappear. My fantasy always has been – I have a daughter – my fantasy has always been that if she lost her life I would kill myself. Because I couldn’t bear to be alive. That may or may not be true, I certainly hope I never find out, and you’re not even supposed to say things like that, but that’s the thought you have as a parent.” (Lonergan, RogerEbert.com)
