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CJohn

Manchester By The Sea (2016)

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  1. 1. Grade It:

    • A
      23
    • B
      7
    • C
      3
    • D
      1
    • F
      1


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12 hours ago, somebody85 said:

I see it's well praised here but besides the acting, I hated that I wasted 2 hours and 17 minutes on this movie. I could have watched so much else instead but chose this due to the high ratings on Metacritic and IMDB. I knew it would be slow but I didn't expect it to be this dull.

Like wow I'm so glad I wasted 2+ hours to find out that Lee can rebuild a boat, move a few towns over from Boston and maybe have his nephew over now. Gee what a revelation. 

The best scene in the movie is Lee's final confrontation with his ex wife. That is one of the greatest acting scenes of the year but it doesn't save this movie. Lee doesn't change. He doesn't go and see her again. He basically has no arc. Besides the things mentioned above, he is the same person he was at the credits as he was when this movie begins. If you think that change was worth 120+ minutes, than more power to you. I didn't.

I get it he's supposed to be playing a depressed person with no emotion. I deal with on/off depression and Casey Affleck nailed it. It doesn't make for a compelling story just to see someone wallow in that state though. Obviously what happened was tragic and his reaction was incredibly realistic but what did I get out of watching this since I'll never see these characters again? Depression sucks? Alcoholism sucks? It would be awful if that happened to you? Yep knew all of that already...so yeah, absolutely nothing.
 

The funny thing is I was thinking "man, it would be pretty funny if the movie just ended here" when they are on the boat again...and sure enough it does. 
 

It's not a bad film. It has really good acting. It's realistic but I was hoping it would at least lead to something and instead it just ends.

It gets more compelling when the tragedy of Lee's family is introduced about an hour in but even that scene doesn't have the impact it should due to the really weird choice of classical score used. I almost turned it off before that area too because I was bored (and it takes a lot to bore me - I didn't find Jackie boring).

And I can't believe this got nominated for best picture instead of Silence.

I knew I should have trusted my instinct after reading the summary. Moonlight at least had a good first half....I couldn't recommend this to anyone outside of the acting. I'll forget I even saw it by the end of the weekend. - C

No.

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Well that was powerful...and depressing, so very, very depressing. It's worth it though because this is QUALITY movie-making. You know a movie is good when you don't want it to be over even after over two emotionally PAINFUL hours. Btw I really wanted to give the main character a hug throughout the length of the film. 

 

 

A for sure 

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On 30/01/2017 at 1:16 PM, Cmasterclay said:

This is one of the most batshit insane things I think I've ever read outside of the Trump administration. 

 

Eh. I've seen the Trump press conference and that post was still the most unhinged thing this year. 

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There are films that continually rip one's heart out throughout the run time, and then there's Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea.

 

Cinema based on realism is hard to pull off.  After all, realistic does not always equal cinematic.  What allows realist cinema to work is full-scale immersion into the story, and the characters within said story.  Thankfully for the viewer, such is very much the case here.

 

Immersion in this film can be credited to one person, and of course that one person is none other than Casey Affleck.  He is able to convey the inner anguish and despair of Lee Chandler in a brilliant manner.  As with all superior acting performances, it is an all-encompassing performance in which eyes and body language are just as effective in conveying said emotion as any simple words could do. In many ways it is what Lee fails to say that holds the most power.  

 

As is typical in films of this ilk, there's a single moment in the film in which you cease to merely be a viewer, and in effect begin living through the film and its characters.  For me, that moment occurred during the funeral of Joe Chandler.  Specifically, Lee is at the funeral of his younger brother, and is approached by his pregnant ex-wife. Randi, and her new partner.  The dynamics and utter helplessness of this scene catapulted me right into Lee's head space.

 

On the surface this would appear to be a simple family drama.  In a way, it is, but the execution within allows it to transcend its base material.  Specifically, the nuanced handling of deep emotion in effect allows this film to become a work of art.  It's extremely powerful in its realistic approach towards grief and coping with tragedy.

 

And yet, for all the despair found within, the last scene of the film may in fact be the most important.  Lee fishing with his nephew Patrick is such a small scene, but it's game-changing when it comes to Lee's state of mind.  As a viewer we can only begin that this is Lee begin to move on with his life.

 

Superior cinema.


 

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