Manchester by the Sea

            Continuing off of last time, where we discussed one of the three major Oscar frontrunners, “Moonlight.” Now this time, we’ll be going over the second film, “Manchester by the sea.”

            Directed and co-written by Kenneth Lonergan, the film tells the story of Lee Chandler, a Boston janitor who returns to his hometown, after finding out that his brother had died. While there, he ends up becoming the caretaker of his nephew, Patrick, and the two try to reconcile after several years apart.

            A lot of the buzz for this movie has been centered on its cast, and rightfully so. Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler delivers his strongest performance to date. While the film starts off with him hearing the news of his brother, you see just how fucked up this guy’s life gets as the film goes on. Depression constantly clouds his mind, and thus, it leads to him dethatching himself from those close, in fear of making the same mistakes again. Affleck is currently the frontrunner for the Best Actor Oscar, and I get why he would be.

Lucas Hedges as Patrick, while is a bit of a bratty douche, does still make this character likable. Being at very young age to lose a dad and have a train-wreck mother not there, you get the feeling of him trying to hold back his emotions throughout the film. The scenes that Affleck and Hedges share are easily the best part of the movie, as neither one is happy with the decisions the other suggests, and the banter with them feels truly genuine. Hedges is also said to be a major nominee for Best Supporting, and I feel like it’s well deserved. The rest of the cast, consisting of Michelle Williams as Lee’s ex-wife, Kyle Chandler as Lee’s late-brother, Gretchen Mol as Patrick’s mom, Kara Hayward and Ana Baryshnikov as Patrick’s girlfriends, C.J. Wilson as Lee’s family friend, and even Matthew Broderick as Patrick’s future step-father, are all really good.

            So we have a cast that does exceptionally well, so are there any downfalls? Yes…VERY yes. On paper, the story is very relatable, but in terms of execution, it doesn't land. The film is about two hours and seventeen minutes, and you really feel every second of that. The pacing is dreadfully slow and takes forever to get through scenes, that I made a game to count all the scenes that could have easily been either cut down or cut entirely. If you had this film at a simple one hundred minutes, it would have been much easier to go through. The narrative flow also got a little distracting, as flashbacks are sewn in so abruptly, that there were times I was left confused on if we were in the past or present, and that took me out of the movie.

And if I had to be honest, it felt like this year’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” I mean, sure this isn’t AS bad as “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” but it still has the same feel of a Lifetime channel movie released in theaters, and does almost everything in its power to get Oscar recognition. Family member dies, so not-so-social family member comes back home, after family is a little broken up because other members died in the past, so he tries to put things back together with those troubled. It’s like, “Look at all our attempts to make you cry, Audience! Please, cry!” And considering it’s slow pace and off-putting flashback inserts mixed with it, it never really got me invested in these characters’ motives, despite the actors’ performances. That, and the audience I was with might have ruined it, with people forgetting to turn off their phones…seriously, why have I been having bad luck with audiences this year?! I think this is like the eighth or ninth film I’ve had audience trouble!

Overall, if you enjoyed “Manchester by the Sea,” more power to you. For me, this didn’t really sit well while watching it. Sure, it’s got some good cinematography and the performances by Affleck and Hedges are fantastic, but nothing else really felt that rewarding of an experience. I didn’t think the film was horrible, but I wouldn’t call it good either. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of the weaker Oscar frontrunners.

Rating: 5/10

Next review: "La La Land"