Manchester by the Sea is a beautiful tragedy, and Casey Affleck's finest role. Secondary drowning is a grim death. Following a near drowning incident, the liquid remaining in the lungs of a victim can trigger the inward extrusion of bodily floods. Hours or even days after escaping the water, the body begins to drown in its own liquids. Manchester by the Sea, the highly anticipated drama from writer / director Kenneth Lonergan, tells the story of a man experiencing the emotional equivalent of secondary drowning. The film is set up to be every bit as agonizing as that would suggest, but with its cathartic score and Lonergan’s habit of underplaying his most dramatic moments, what could be an excruciating journey has a disarming grace. Received with almost unanimous praise, it has been acquired by Amazon and should appear in theaters sometime this year. Lee (Casey Affleck) is a loaf by night, janitor by day in Boston, spending his free time time fighting in bars and ignoring would- be suitors. The passing of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) breaks Lee from the cycle, bringing him home to the town of the title, where he’s burdened with unexpected guardianship of his teenage nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Lee had escaped a past life in the town which nearly destroyed him; returning to the epicenter of his trauma has fatal potential. Manchester by the Sea is about living in the wake of tragedy. On first blush, this is a quintessential indie tale of a stunted man maturing in tandem with a bereaved child. But Lonergan deftly subverts expectations. Whenever the story starts to settle, the auteur tosses another stone through the plot’s surface, newly revealed information rippling outwards, changing how we perceive the characters and their motives. After his father’s funeral, Patrick swiftly enters recovery mode, rehearsing with his band, repairing the family boat, and trying to finally get past second base with one of his two girlfriends. Hedges’ Patrick is sad but not defeated, somber but funny. In a cast that includes a roster of Oscar- worthy talent, Hedges (who is still studying acting as a freshman in college) holds his own with an atypical humility. But Manchester by the Sea is Lee’s story, and Affleck’s showpiece. Lee’s arc — finding his place in the town and his family — is small, but potent. As the film pushes forward, flashbacks trickle in, and we learn of Affleck’s once domestic bliss with his ex- wife Randi (Michelle Williams, who devastates with her minimal scene time), and the nauseating tragedy that obliterated it. An operatic score mercifully covers the rawest scenes. The town and its residents are tragic residue, and like liquid in the lungs, they turn Lee against himself, threatening a fatal outcome. Manchester by the Sea is a quiet and slow town, but for Lee, cross looks and cruel gossip hide in the shadows. The movie is compelling for those of us not like Patrick, who may never recover but can train ourselves to put on our boots and step outside. Lesley Barber’s operatic score supports the cast’s performances, mercifully turning up the soundtrack dial to cover a couple excruciating scenes that would otherwise play out as a cacophony of bloodcurdling, scenery- chewing screams. Manchester by the Sea could be dismissed as a . It’s a methodic meditation on living with pain that can’t be shed, and in the oily- black corners of our shared fears, Lonergan has discovered something beautiful, human, and new. By good fortune, he’s shared it with us. Manchester by the Sea Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Casey Affleck Movie An uncle is forced to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies. In Manchester by the Sea, the latest film from award-winning writer and director Kenneth Lonergan, the life of a solitary Boston janitor is transformed when he. Manchester-by-the-Sea Tourism: TripAdvisor has 432 reviews of Manchester-by-the-Sea Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Manchester-by-the-Sea. His latest, Manchester By the Sea, finds him in the quaint northeastern Massachusetts town as he immaculately constructs a layered, non- linear exploration of the ripple effects of loss and grief. Appearing in nearly every scene of the drama is Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, living out his lonely life in Boston working as a handyman for a group of four apartment buildings. A phone call from his hometown informs him that his brother Joe’s (Kyle Chandler) long- diagnosed congestive heart failure finally caught up with him. Passing away before Lee makes it home, he must now deal with the aftermath of his brother’s death and the ocean of grief that it brings, all in a town that carries its own tragic memories for him. If The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone, or Ain’t Them Bodies Saints hadn’t been sufficient proof, Manchester By the Sea solidifies Affleck as a leading man that can carry the weight of anguish in a glance. His pensive performance here — gratefully always given room to naturally breathe by Lonergan — is riveting to watch, particularly how he subtly reacts to each person that has left scars years prior, and in the initial pain of how we see those scars come to fruition. The moment he learns of his brother’s death when arriving to the hospital, he languishes in the moment, staring at the doctors who have delivered the news; Affleck masterfully exhibits both the suffering and confusion. Incorporating a series of unadorned flashbacks, Lonergan brilliantly and steadily peels back the layers of Lee’s anguish. We see him with a healthy Joe and his young son, Patrick (Ben O’Brien), enjoying a beautiful day of fishing, as well as Lee’s loving interactions with his wife, Randi (Michelle Williams), and their three children. The way Lonergan inserts these sequences in the narrative with little build- up is temporally jarring at first, but they are slowly revealed to be part of a much larger patchwork that gives an emotional backbone to Lee’s reservations and seclusion. As this structure gives a sense of the past, it’s Lee’s relationship with his now- 1. Patrick (Lucas Hedges), that forges his future. Unbeknownst to Lee, his brother’s will put Patrick under his care with consideration for everything he may need to raise a teenager while still living in their hometown. However, Lee insists on moving him back to Boston, tearing up his rooted life of sports, music, and girls. Crossing a few thematic paths with Margaret. While we won’t fault the film’s future marketing to likely give higher billing to Williams and Chandler — both magnificent in their crucial scenes — their actual presence is minuscule, rather significantly impacting Lee’s life as looming memories over the whole film. It’s Hedges who genuinely shines as the only remaining family member who’s a substantial part of Lee’s life. Much of the film’s second half deals with their dynamic, as they each attempt to move on in their own ways, all while Lonergan fuses his own particular layer of comedy. Whether it’s Lee helping him try to get laid — and doing an awful job at it — or the two quarreling in the car, there is rarely a moment in Manchester By the Sea that isn’t filled with both a tinge of heartbreak and some tenderly amusing humor, even in the most unexpected of places. Shot by Jody Lee Lipes (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Trainwreck), there’s an evocative beauty in the way he frames the seaside town through both a starry night and a brisk day. Characters are almost always front and center, keeping us keenly attuned to their actions — but, when they’re not, Lipes keeps them at a distance. In one of the most striking sequences, the revelation of his father’s death to Patrick at his hockey practice is done from across the rink, focusing more on the embrace of his friends than what is actually said. Lonergan poetically heightens much of the drama with non- diegetic choral and classical music as well as other genres, giving a larger importance to an intimacy he creates. He arrives in the town with an almost mythic presence, but by the end of Manchester By the Sea, after we see all the layers that comprise Affleck’s Lee, he emerges a fully realized character. It’s a process that’s fascinatingly heart- rendering to witness, a collection of moments both micro and macro, essential and seemingly superfluous, yet all building to a complete picture of a man trapped by circumstance and remorse. His other features as writer-director are Margaret (11) and Manchester by the Sea (16). Manchester-by-the-Sea (or simply Manchester) is a town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The town is known for scenic beaches and.
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