Manchester by the Sea (15)
Another week, another critically acclaimed flick arriving on these shores – no surprise as Oscar season gets ever closer.
But Manchester by the Sea is a very different animal to La La Land – there’s no singing and dancing or boundless optimism on display here.
Instead Kenneth Lonergan’s third directorial outing is a down to earth character study about grief, regret and fractured lives that makes for a tough – but gripping – watch.
Casey Affleck stars as Lee Chandler, a janitor who returns to the titular town when his brother dies and is forced to take care of his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) and re-engage with exwife Randi (Michelle Williams).
When viewing the trailers for Manchester by the Sea, I was concerned it would be a depressing tale and while Lonergan’s story doesn’t pull any punches, it drags you off in a series of different emotional beats.
Meaty material, then, for the cast and Lonergan coaxes Affleck into an even better performance than Affleck’s brother Ben managed in 2007’s Gone Baby Gone.
In fact, this is probably the finest work of Casey’s career in a stripped-back, lived-in role that perfectly embodies a character burdened by a troubled past who is all of a sudden thrust into an unwanted situation way beyond his control.