Manchester by the Sea SPOILERS!
An extremely heavy film. I had very high expectations going in and it managed to even surpass those expectations. I am absolutely grateful that I got to see this and experience it in the cinema. I meant to see it yesterday but I was suffering from a miniature anxiety attack, which because of what happens in this film, seemed to make it even more relatable to me. I think I connected very well with these characters. Casey Affleck gives a performance of a lifetime. I've heard negative things of what is going on in his real personal life but I have strayed away in reading it because I didn't want it to effect how I felt about this film. I say we give him the Oscar now. Michelle Williams, although not on the screen for long, was absolute brilliant in her scenes. There really isn't one scene of hers that didn't seem to move me. Lucas Hedges gave a performance comparable to the male version of Shailene Woodley in The Descendants. His acting felt so real to the situation to me, trying to divert his life catastrophes as much as possible by surrounding himself with his friends, his hands, and his girlfriends. I absolutely liked the rest of the supporting cast as well. It was especially good to see Kara Hayward in a movie again, I think she's real talented. Or she was in Moonrise Kingdom anyways.
There's a certain something about films centered around tragic deaths that I can relate to. I love how Lonnergan doesn't hold anything back. He shows us the brutal reality of the tragedy that life can be. I give him a lot of credit for that. Some of these scenes are so heartbreaking. When Lee sees his brother after he arrives there and equally as heartbreaking is when Patrick sees him. But the most heartbreaking scene is without a doubt the flashback fire scene. Perhaps one of the most tear-jerking scenes I've ever seen. It got me. It also got me at the end when Lee said he can't beat it. He really wants to be there and be Patrick's caretaker, but he can't bring himself to do it. Also heartbreaking, the scene where Lee runs into Randi in Manchester and she asks him to go for lunch. He is so haunted by his past that he is afraid to have anything to do with things which were a part of it.
In the end, a lot is left on the table and up for interpretation. I like that. This is probably my favorite film of this decade, and if it isnt, it sure comes close. It gets the perfect rating from me. I feel like I'm doing the film injustice by not talking about it enough, but it was a lot to take in at one time but I will surely revisit it again. It's impact has it on the precipice of being one my top 10 after only one watch.