So, has anyone seen Manchester By The Sea?
I thought it was great. I mean, if you're into that type of film. Which is to say, it's like a Bergman-esque character study about a guy carrying unimaginable grief and unimaginable guilt around(except with sporadic levity that probably wouldn't be present in a Bergman film). Heavy, depressing stuff.
The plot is thin, by design. It's not a film about about plot. It's a film about pain and loss and human misery and how these characters react to it.
Three things that stood out to me:
The acting. Casey Affleck is already getting Oscar buzz. I wouldn't really have thought of him in a role like this, but I think he was great. He played it in an understated and raw way, without going OTT, which I thought was very effective. More like how it would be IRL. Apparently Matt Damon was originally supposed to play the role, but I have to say, as great as he is, I think Affleck was better for the role.
Michelle Williams continues to be one of her generation's finest actresses, imo. She's only in like 20 minutes total of the film, but she pretty much owns every scene she's in. Particularly the last one.
Lucas Hedges is good as the kid/nephew too. Again, given the circumstances you might expect some kind of big breakdown at some point, and he does kind of have one, but for the most part his pain and sense of loss is internalized, as it sometimes is IRL.
Kyle Chandler is also good as the deceased brother in the flashbacks. He seems to have a knack for these family-backbone type roles.
Second thing, the cinematography. It's a really nice-looking film. The scenery is beautiful already, in a bleak kid of way, and the way it's captured really matches the equally bleak mood of the film and its characters.
Third thing, the score. I thought it was extremely affecting and, again, very much in tune with the somber mood of the film and the emotions of the characters. Kind of minimalist in my recollection, but again, that fit with the understated, subtle acting.
My only critiques would be that I thought the Gretchen Mol character - the kid's mother - was under-developed, and that I didn't really see the point of the kid having two girlfriends(especially since the first one kind of disappeared halfway through), but those are relatively minor quibbles.
I thought it was really well-done. But it's not for everyone. There are people will see it and think it's boring or that nothing happens or that it moves way too slow or that it's too depressing or too realistic or not entertaining enough or that there should have been more overt displays of emotion, etc etc. But if you like well-acted, well-shot, well-written slow-moving bleak depressing-as-shit emotionally-affecting character studies, you'll probably like this.
