Manchester by the Sea

seen on 24 January 2017

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, this deeply affecting film stars Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, Michelle Williams as his estranged wife Randi, Kyle Chandler as his brother Joe and Lucas Hedges as his nephew Patrick.

Lee, emotionally and socially shut off from his world, is a janitor taking care of several apartment blocks in Boston. The film opens with scenes of his work (generally quite thankless, though he does overhear one tactless resident confessing on the phone to a friend that she is in love with her janitor), intercut with flashbacks of a boat trip with his brother and young nephew in the town of Manchester by the Sea. 

In the middle of winter he receives news that his brother Joe has suffered a cardiac arrest, but by the time he reaches Manchester by the Sea, Joe has died, and it is up to Lee to tell his now 16-year-old nephew the news. It transpires that Joe has appointed Lee as Patrick's guardian, a position that Lee is most unwilling to take on.

The situation could have been melodramatic; the interaction between uncle and nephew could have been one of those sentimental affairs in which talking and emoting bring about resolution and 'growth'. The film does not take these paths. Instead, Lee and Patrick have flashes of rapport and periods of intense unease, neither able to deal with the grief and confusion in their lives. The reasons for Lee's deeper alienation are revealed through memories that are so painful that they can only leave lasting damage. Life might indeed go on, but it is by no means easy.

The performances are excellent. Casey Affleck often seems to be unreadable, but his is a masterful portrayal of an inarticulate and profoundly hurt man, wonderfully rendered in his shifting uneasy expression, his occasional outbursts of temper, and his sheer doggedness. It is also very astute that in the flashback scenes, before the catastrophe that has shaped his life, although he is more cheerful, he is believably the same man. Michelle Williams gives a wrenching performance as his estranged wife Randi; the final scene between them is almost too painful to witness. The young actor Lucas Hedges portrays an adolescent's self-centredness and uncertainty with complete conviction; again the moments when he does become aware of his uncle's distress are understated but powerful, catching exactly the transience of a teenager's empathy for an adult.

It's one of the best films I've seen for years.