We haven’t done a movie review in quite some time – in fact, this may be the first one, who knows? – but when we saw that the critically acclaimed Manchester by the Sea was playing at Red River Theatres, we saw it as an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
Now I don’t pretend to be some savvy film critic by any means (though I did take a film class in high school), so don’t consider this the be all, end all account of the production. It’s just one Insider’s take.
One of the things that immediately caught my attention was the title of the movie. Obviously, New Hampshire’s largest city comes to mind, though the “by the sea” part is curious. It turns out, it’s about a town called Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. I’d never heard of it, and I grew up on the South Shore of that state, so the simple act of Googling the town and learning of its existence and location before going to the movie was pretty enlightening on its own.
The story follows Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a janitor working in Quincy, Mass., who suddenly becomes the guardian of his 16-year-old nephew, Patrick, after his brother dies of heart failure. At first, it sounds pretty similar to Big Daddy (great movie), only this one is a lot more serious.
The catch is that Lee had no idea that his brother made him the guardian, so it came as an unwelcome and unpleasant shock. He then learns that to take care of the boy he’s supposed to move from his one-room apartment in Boston to Manchester, an hour and a half north, a town he left behind for a reason.
Without giving too much away, it’s revealed through a flashback – of which there are many, which are sometimes briefly disorienting – that Lee experienced extreme tragedy in Manchester, and he had been trying to busy himself in the city to keep his mind off his past.
The movie is very nicely shot, and the setting is a big part of the film. The crowded triple-deckers on the city streets of Boston caked in snow, the packed harbors of the North Shore, people shoveling, watching the Celtics and Bruins. Anybody who grew up in New England will feel at home watching this movie, and I think that’s sort of the point.
One element that was predictably off the mark was the accents. Even Boston-set movies featuring real-life Bostonians such as Affleck still suffer from some pretty terrible over-sells of all the classics: “smaht,” “pahk,” “cah,” but hey, what are you gonna do? In fairness, the worst offenders of this were the youngest, least experienced actors. Also, there were a few more F-bombs than I felt were necessary, and I’m not one to get upset about foul language. Some of it just felt forced.
The acting in general was actually a little disappointing. Affleck was very good, but I was expecting him to be excellent, based on some of the things I read before going to see it. Lucas Hedges, the young actor who played Patrick, had a funny charm to him but felt a little awkward in some of the dramatic scenes. The best performance was turned in by Michelle Williams, who played Randi Chandler, the ex-wife of Lee (Affleck). She didn’t have much screen time, but her facial expressions and vocal inflection alone carried the scenes she was in. (Affleck and Williams were each nominated for a Golden Globe for their performances, and Affleck won.)
This movie is ultimately about loss – and lots of it – so be prepared for that going in. The subject matter is heavy and very real, and that’s the strength of the film. Some of the acting and writing can be cheesy at times, but the story is what drives everything. You care about the characters and the relationships, and you feel like you’re a part of everything that’s going on. It’s a situation you could see yourself in, and that’s kind of scary.
The experience of seeing the movie at Red River was comfortable and all-around pleasant. It’s not the biggest screen in the world, but it’s bigger than anything I have at home, and the sound system in that place is rock solid. I sat near the back and the audio was incredibly detailed, clear and strong. The seat was cozy and the view was perfect and unobstructed.
One thing worth mentioning is that the screening I went to was presented with closed captioning. Red River does this every once in a while, and they do state on their website when a movie is going to be played with captions. All that said, it was a minor annoyance for the first half of the movie, but I got used to it.
The movie, which is rated R and has a runtime of 137 minutes, will be at Red River for about a couple more weeks – it’s hard to tell how long a movie will be available because the film companies determine that on a moment’s notice – but check redrivertheatres.org before you head out to make sure.
