The MoFo Top 100 of the 2010s Countdown

Acting in Manchester is excellent. Much of the movie is Lee, and Casey Affleck deserves the attention he’s received for creating this character. Everybody else in the cast is similarly believable. Michelle Williams is excellent as Randi, as is Lucas Hedges as Patrick. In fact, everybody in the cast is excellent and completely believable. It’s definitely an actor’s movie, a low budget drama and not a visual spectacle. Effects and action are near zero since the entire film is about plot and characters. It has a lot of dialog and personal tension. It’s set in several very old towns in coastal New England and has a lot of thick accents. The genealogy of the people involved in the movie (Affleck, Damon and a minor character who may be from the Wahlberg family) suggests that this film is something very personal, being part of the world where they grew up. Sometimes the fruit does not fall too far from the tree.

McCarthy and co-screenwriter Josh Singer also hit a bullseye with the impact that this investigation has on the personal lives of the Spotlight team, or more specifcally, the lack thereof. These four people appear to have no personal life at all and always seem to be at work. We learn early on that Rezendes is married but we're well into act two before it is revealed that his wife left him because of his obsession with his work and, sadly, he really doesn't seem to care. The investigation also reveals startling personal connections to Robinson, Carroll, and Pfeiffer that might make some back off, but these reporters never take their eye off the prize, even when their investigation is stalled by the events of 9/11.

Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)

Handyman Casey Affleck is supposed to become the guardian of his nephew (Lucas Hedges) when his brother dies, but this brings back many hurtful memories of his past in Manchester, Massachusetts.

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)

Boston Globe reporters Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo consult with editor Michael Keaton (middle) about the pedophile priest story.

Yeah, there's no body mutilation in it

Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)

A film that in many ways revels in its lifelessness, the surroundings of Casey Affleck are never flashy yet the film manages to create a palpable atmosphere that eventually unravels to devastating effect. Affleck's performance captures the complex myriad of emotions involved in grief and loss.

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)



Nothing here really impressed me that much. Everything just seemed so standard, like a made for TV documentary but with big movie stars playing the parts. Nothing cinematic in the way the story is told, not through dialogue or visually. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities to go beyond what turned out to be a really simple plot. There were scenes, moments which seemed to be begging to explore in greater depth - the church and why the scandal occurred and why it was covered up, the priests who committed the abuse (a scene about halfway through is one of the most memorable relating to this, and is never again revisited), the victims and their story, or those who perhaps could have acted earlier. I'm not sure why everyone is raving about this, an easy comparison to make given the setting but it really is a poor man's All The President's Men. I saw too that Rachel McAdams got nominated for an Oscar for her performance... really really lazy nomination, not that she's bad, but she doesn't really have that much acting to do here.

Manchester By the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)
(Rewatch)

When I first heard about this movie, I had absolutely no intention of watching it. The thought of sitting through over two hours of Casey Affleck was, in a word, unappealing. But in 2017 it was nominated for a Hall of Fame I was participating in, so it could no longer be avoided.

I was surprised to find a a quietly devastating and well crafted film that features some really strong performances including - and maybe especially - that of Casey Affleck. He completely embodied Lee, a broken shell of a man who suddenly finds himself thrown into the responsibility of arranging his brother's funeral and becoming the guardian of his teenaged nephew, all while having to return to a town that for him symbolizes tragedy and that brings out tremendous feelings of grief, guilt, and rage that were present before and separate from his brother's death.

The perpetual cold of the weather and the ever-present snow reflect Lee's numbness and add to the film's mood. I also really liked the way the film portrayed his interactions with the other people - the awkwardness of scenes like the funeral reception is palpable - and the way their individual struggles caused so much friction between him and his nephew. I felt very strongly for Lee's struggles and found myself crying for his pain in multiple scenes.

But as devastating and beautiful as it is, that heartache also works against it and makes for a very difficult watch. Also working against it is the fact that it offers almost no levity, no relief from the pain even for its audience. I came away from that initial viewing never wanting to see it again and I come away from this rewatch feeling much the same. If it takes a place on the countdown, I'll say in all sincerity that it deserves to be there but I don't think it'll have any of my help in getting there and I don't think there will ever be a third watch for me.

I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.

We have now had three of the Academy Award Best Picture winners of the decade make the countdown: The Artist (#87), The King's Speech (#78), and Spotlight (#63). Argo, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, Moonlight, The Shape of Water, Green Book, and Parasite remain.

I still predict we'll get eight of the ten. I don't think Argo will make it (though it is a good flick) and I sincerely hope Green Book doesn't make it (which almost surely means it will).