Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
Quiet, Good Movie; Cinematography Great
Bpollen - wrote on 05/06/2017
Manchester by the Sea was a good, but not great, movie. It's a solemn movie that follows a man through life, as he plods along in self-punishment, being rude, mean, anti-social, and depressed, as he self-medicates with booze along the way. All this as self-punishment for the unintentional part he played in some family deaths previously. Casey Affleck's performance was good, but there wasn't a whole lot in the character to work with, since he barely responds to the other characters, except for a couple of fight scenes, and once when he cries while he hides his face. I suspect most actors could have pulled this off just as well, with many doing better. He fails to give the character as much depth as would surely be there in a real person faced with such guilt. The plot is good, the …
Rating of
3/4
Beer and Self-Loathing in Manchester by the Sea
Chris Kavan - wrote on 03/03/2017
If you want to see some outstanding performances, Manchester by the Sea has some knockout characters - led by Casey Affleck (who deserved that Best Actor award) and Michelle Williams - who isn't on screen that long, but when she is she owns her scenes. Lucas Hedges likewise is well-cast as a typical teen dealing with an atypical experience following the death of his father.
However, I would also say Manchester by the Sea is also a movie for critics and the more arthouse crowd as I can't see a wide general audience embracing a film that is so damn depressing. Don't get me wrong, there are some surprising moments of levity to be had, but, for the most part, this is just a downright bleak film with only a few rays of hope poking through. Essentially we follow Lee Chandler (Affleck) who …
Rating of
3/4
Manchester by the Sea - Movie Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 02/11/2017
"I said a lot of terrible things to you. My heart was broken, and I know yours is broken, too."
"Manchester by the Sea" is a trip through all the emotions and life's cruel tricks. Grief, lost, loneliness, acceptance, and finding humor in difficult situations. But what separates this from other dramatic tearjerkers is that while the movie is really depressing, but you feel more alive afterwards. It can bring out totally different emotions from you.
What Kenneth Lonergan manages to bring for a movie like this is the ability of presenting the characters as real people. A quiet and raw film that says so much. Incredible moving and brilliantly written. Hats off to you Lonergan.
Casey Affleck performance was so natural and grounded to the point I forgot I was watching actors on …
Rating of
3/4
GOOD! But NOT great.
Pat - wrote on 12/01/2016
Finally, Manchester by the Sea comes out in a movie theatre near me, and I was so excited, considering Casey Affleck's great acting abilities, and obviously, the movie's near-universal critical success. I have to say that this was a very decent film.
I know people are saying that Casey Affleck has given out his best performance of his career, which I understand to be a legitimate view. Don't get me wrong, he has a great performance, however I do think that his performance in Gone Baby Gone was just as good. On the other hand, I felt that his character was much more DEVELOPED in Manchester by the Sea. I cared about the character Lee Chandler more in this film than any character before in Casey Affleck's movie roles.
Lee Chandler is someone who we, as the audience, would initially …
