"Manchester by the Sea" (2016) Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

“My heart was broken. It’s always gonna be broken and I know yours is broken too”.

Winner of two Oscars in 2017, this is Kenneth Lonergan’s most accomplished and moving cinematic feature to date. From his Oscar winning screenplay perfectly accompanied by Lesley Barber’s beautiful and masterful musical score highlighted by her daughter’s singing of a mournful aria, through to some incredible supporting performances from Oscar nominated Lucas Hedges and Michelle Williams, all supporting a phenomenal and Oscar winning performance from Casey Affleck.

“Lee Chandler” (Casey Affleck) It’s been 20 years since I first saw Casey Affleck star in a film, his off kilter and bizarre portrayal in his brother’s Oscar winning debut film Good Will Hunting. It was an innocent role (in more ways than one) but one that always strikes me whenever I re-watch the Gus Van Sant directed classic of 1997. Minor roles would follow in the Oceans 11 ongoing franchise but in 2007 Affleck produced two superb performances in Gone, Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford that really propelled him into the mainstream, particularly so the role of Robert Ford in Andrew Dominik’s masterful film where his quiet, watchful performance was often overlooked and eerily shadowed here in Manchester by the Sea ten years later. For me, it’s not the towering outbursts of anger that pepper his role here as Lee but rather the quiet, awkward looks, hunched shoulders and nuances of a man simply broken, in mind, body and spirit by events that have shaped his life and which bring him back to Manchester from his new home in Quincy, near Boston. Life has gone on but not for Lee, grief stricken and unable to fully comprehend the events we see in crunching flashbacks throughout the film, “I can’t beat it. I can’t beat it. I’m sorry”.

The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Manchester by the Sea" penned and published in 2017, transferred to my Medium blog site on 27th January 2023 and which can also be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and the link immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/manchester-by-the-sea-2016-2c310ffc103a

This spoiler free review is also integral to my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" and can be found within Volume 3. Only available currently in e-book form, each exhaustive volume of spoiler free film reviews is £4.99 however, should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package, you can read each and every volume for free:

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4JTLRY1

All 7 Volumes

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

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