I refused to see Manchester by the Sea in theaters. First, if you are from Massachusetts and playing a man from Massachusetts, you are not a great actor. Second, when I heard that Casey Affleck (Casexual Assault Affleck, Rapey Casey Affleck, Ben the Lesser Affleck—help me out because I can’t find an evocative enough phrase) complained about having to use a Massachusetts accent, I just thought what kind of actor complains about doing an accent that is familiar to them. Alessandro Nivola and Kristin Scott Thomas act in different languages. Stay in the lazy closet.
Third, I don’t spend my money on movies made by Roman Polanski, who is still a talented director, Woody Allen, who is past his prime, and Rapey Nate Parker so I will not be making an exception for a man who constantly gets rewarded for doing the least by virtue of blood and friendship. Casey’s performances are not even slightly memorable: Gerry, I’m Still Here, Ocean’s Eleven and Twelve, Gone Baby Gone, To Die For, Hamlet, Good Will Hunting. Sure he is a better actor than his brother, but so am I. Ben is at least an amazing director and writer and objectively attractive. I have never been blown away by any of his performances….until now.
I am so angry that Manchester by the Sea is actually a good film, and Affleck gives an outstanding performance. Going into the film, I even knew the entire plot for Manchester by the Sea and was prepared to call it melodramatic, contrived cinematic sorrow porn, but it isn’t. Manchester by the Sea feels real in its portrait of a man who can barely stand to live with himself and lives in self-imposed exile and condemnation to protect those he loves. Within 8 minutes, Affleck managed to capture my attention when he is angrily roused out of his routine and lashes out at any type of connection. Affleck does what Tobey Maguire cannot do-he goes through the entire spectrum before exploding and shows restraint with enough cracks of unwanted emotion to make his character work.
Manchester by the Sea tells various parallel stories: the present story which gets Affleck’s character back to the titular town, the death of his brother and having to care for his nephew, and the past story which explains several aspects of the family’s predicament: why he leaves, what happened to his brother and why his nephew does not have many options. Manchester by the Sea effectively uses editing and the dialogue to show the passage of time early in the film by focusing on Dr. Bethany, an absent figure in the present, but a pivotal presence at an important turning point. By the time that you find out what happened and the dream sequence, you can understand why the casual banter of tenants around the janitor are unspeakably and unintentionally cruel and why his brother’s decision, though well-meaning, cannot possibly work out without a miracle. Manchester by the Sea is a bleak world without miracles or redemption, but filled with helpless fathers with children in danger and mothers with the ability to survive without children.
Manchester by the Sea is a masterpiece of capturing the rhythm and natural banter of people and how something said can be awful, but within context, make complete sense to the participants. Manchester by the Sea demands your complete attention or you’ll miss the small, but devastating moments such as when George’s wife is suddenly doing more than cleaning wounds and looks up wordlessly at her husband or the body language of the Chandler men when they watch a hockey game before and after a phone call.
I only have two criticisms of Manchester by the Sea. First, Matthew Broderick took me out of the movie. Second, and the following statement will not affect your enjoyment of the film, but after The Town, I began thinking of how weird it is that the Afflecks and Matt Damon, who grew up in Cambridge, and now John Krasinski, who also conceived of Manchester by the Sea with Damon and grew up in Newton, fetishize working class characters though their origins are highly educated, middle class. Manchester by the Sea is filled with solidly working class, profane characters, but the actual city does not reflect that demographic. What is the significance of Damon and Kransinski’s imagination compared and contrasted with the reality of their experiences and others who actually reside in Manchester by the Sea? It did not feel exploitative, but I am curious to know how Massachusetts white working class residents feel about the movie? I suspect that they simply loved getting to see themselves on the big screen and would rationalize anything that detracted from reality as necessary for the movie instead of taking umbrage as they did with The Boxer.
I did not want to love Manchester by the Sea, but good work is good work.