Manchester by the Sea (film)


Manchester by the Sea is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan that stars Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, and Lucas Hedges. Revolving around the themes of depression, guilt, grief, responsibility, dysfunctional families, and post-traumatic stress disorder, the plot follows a depressed and grief-stricken man who becomes the legal guardian of his teenage nephew after the death of his brother.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016, and was picked up by Amazon Studios for distribution. Manchester by the Sea was filmed during March and April 2015 in the eponymous Massachusetts town and other towns in the state, such as Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Swampscott, Lynn, Middleton, Tewksbury, and Salem. It began a limited release on November 18, 2016, before a wide release on December 16, 2016. It grossed $79million worldwide against a budget of $8.5–9million.
The film received critical acclaim and was widely counted among the best films of 2016; the National Board of Review listed it as the top film of 2016. Critics complimented the performances of Affleck, Hedges, and Williams, as well as Lonergan's screenplay and direction. At the 89th Academy Awards, Manchester by the Sea won Academy Awards for Best Actor for Affleck and Best Original Screenplay, and additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Affleck also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama; the film was also nominated in four other categories. The British Academy Film Awards nominated the picture for six awards, of which it won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Affleck and Best Original Screenplay. Since then, it has been considered to be among the best films of the 21st century.

Plot

Lee Chandler is a depressed and asocial janitor who lives alone in a basement apartment in Quincy, Massachusetts. He goes to a bar, brushes off a woman who expresses interest in him, and gets into a fistfight with two men. One day, he receives a phone call informing him that his brother Joe, a fisherman who lives in Manchester-by-the-Sea, has suffered cardiac arrest; Joe dies before Lee can reach the hospital. Lee insists on being the one to tell Joe's teenage son Patrick about his death. While making funeral arrangements, they are reminded Joe's body cannot be buried until spring as the ground is frozen. Lee makes plans to remain in Manchester, living in Joe's house until the delayed burial.
When Lee meets with Joe's attorney, he is shocked to discover Joe has named him Patrick's legal guardian. Flashbacks reveal that Lee once lived in Manchester with his then-wife Randi and their three children. One night after hosting a raucous party, an intoxicated Lee forgot to put the screen in front of the fireplace, leading to a house fire that killed his children. No criminal charges were filed against him, as the police ruled it a tragic accident. However, at the station, a guilt-ridden Lee stole an officer's gun and attempted suicide, before being subdued. Lee and Randi subsequently divorced, and he left town. He is reluctant to commit to the guardianship, as it would require him to move back to Manchester. Plans are begun for Patrick to move to Boston with Lee, but Patrick has strong ties to the Manchester community and stubbornly objects. Lee commits to staying until the end of the school year. Patrick wants to live with his estranged mother Elise, who still lives in the area. Lee is opposed to this as her history with alcoholism led her to abandon her family, but Patrick decides to reconnect with her over lunch. Elise has committed to Christianity and sobriety with her fiancé Jeffrey, but during an awkward meal with them, Patrick finds he is unable to connect with her. He is further unsettled when Jeffrey emails him and insists on being an intermediary in any future communication between them. Lee's positive comments about Elise's sobriety lead Patrick to believe his uncle is trying to get rid of him, assertions Lee denies.
In response to this strain in their relationship, Lee takes steps to possibly extend his stay in Manchester and seeks to spend more time with Patrick. Over time, they re-establish their bond, despite conflicts over Joe's boat, Patrick's girlfriends, and their future living arrangements. However, staying in Manchester is still painful for Lee, as he is surrounded by reminders of his past. Multiple scenes suggest that some residents of Manchester believe that the fire was not accidental. One day, Lee runs into Randi with her newborn child. A sobbing Randi expresses remorse for her treatment of him during their divorce and asks him to have lunch. He deflects her apology, feeling that he does not deserve it. When Randi insists that they reconnect and pleads with him not to "just die", Lee is overwhelmed with emotion and has to leave before he breaks down. Distraught, Lee gets drunk at a bar, picks a fight with strangers, and is knocked out. He wakes up in the living room of Joe's friend George and breaks down in tears. At home, Patrick shows his uncle understanding after seeing his battered state and pictures of his deceased children. Lee arranges for George and his wife to adopt Patrick so that he can remain in Manchester while Lee takes a job in Boston. When Patrick asks Lee why he cannot remain in Manchester, Lee says that he "can't beat it".
During a walk after Joe's burial service, Lee tells Patrick he is searching for a residence in Boston with an extra room so he can visit whenever he wants. In the final scene, Lee and Patrick go fishing on Joe's refurbished boat, which Patrick has inherited.

Cast

  • Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler, a grief-stricken loner
  • Lucas Hedges as Patrick Chandler, Lee's 16-year-old nephew and charge
  • * Ivy O'Brien as young Patrick Chandler
  • Michelle Williams as Randi Ellington, Lee's former wife
  • Kyle Chandler as Joseph "Joe" P. Chandler, Lee's brother and Patrick's father
  • C. J. Wilson as George Ellington, the Chandlers' family friend
  • Tate Donovan as Patrick's hockey coach
  • Kara Hayward as Silvie McGann, one of Patrick's girlfriends
  • Anna Baryshnikov as Sandy, one of Patrick's girlfriends
  • Heather Burns as Jill, Sandy's mother
  • Gretchen Mol as Elise Henderson, Joe's former wife and Patrick's mother
  • Matthew Broderick as Jeffrey Garner, Elise's fiancé
  • Josh Hamilton as Wes, Joe's lawyer
  • Kenneth Lonergan in a cameo as a Manchester pedestrian
  • Stephen Henderson as Mr. Emery, Lee's boss
  • Erica McDermott as Sue, the boat yard boss
  • Mary Mallen as Sharon
  • Jackson Damon as Otto

    Themes

Manchester by the Sea is a treatment of profound grief from which it is difficult or impossible to recover. In an essay in Cinéaste, Colin Fleming writes that "the question Lonergan invites us to ask ourselves is how on earth would we be able to carry on after an event so tragically full of loss and guilt." Speaking to the persistence of grief, Film Comment magazine says that "Lonergan is telling us that Lee's grief cannot be contained or subdued because his past lives on wherever he goes." Remarking on the way flash-backs appear suddenly during the movie, critic Anthony Lane says that Lonergan "proceeds on the assumption that things are hard, some irreparably so, and that it's the job of a film not to smooth them over." He also noted the tragedy is juxtaposed with "the harsh comedy that colors much of the dialogue, and the near-farcical frequency with which things go wrong." Along those same lines, critic Steven Mears called the film "a study of grief and reticence that finds droll humor in those very sources," and Richard Alleva says the loving but tense relationship between Lee and Patrick "keeps the story nicely balanced between rough hewn comedy and delicate pathos." Explaining his objective, Lonergan said:
I don't like the fact that, nowadays, it feels like it's not permissible to leave something unresolved... Some people live with their trauma for years. I'm not interested in rubbing people's faces in suffering... But I don't like this lie that everybody gets over things that easily. Some people can't get over something major that's happened to them at all; why can't they have a movie too?

The film's events take place through the cultural filter of a blue-collar, New England community. John Krasinski and Matt Damon initially approached Lonergan about developing the story in New England. As Lonergan researched the areas surrounding Manchester-by-the-Sea, he sought to include details specific to the area, such as its distance from Quincy, the delayed burial because of the frozen ground in a historical cemetery, and the realities of fishing life. Critic Sam Lansky said the lead character's New England roots make him "disinclined to emote", and Tom Shone said Lonergan's dialogue forces "the story's heartbreak to peep from behind these tough, flinty New England exteriors."

Production

Development

Matt Damon and John Krasinski brainstormed a film about an "emotionally crippled" handyman, and took the idea to Lonergan for his input, thinking Krasinski would star and Damon would direct. Damon had worked with Lonergan on the 2011 film Margaret. Both actors became occupied with other projects while Lonergan worked on the screenplay for three years. After Damon read a rough draft of the script, he insisted Lonergan should direct the project and that Damon would star in it. They announced they would collaborate on the project on September 6, 2014, and pre-production began two days later. However, Damon would not have a break in his schedule for another year. In early December 2014, while filming The Finest Hours, Casey Affleck told The Boston Globe he would replace Damon in the lead role. Damon said he "wouldn't give this role up to anybody but Casey Affleck."
Affleck officially replaced Damon on January 5, 2015. On January 9, Michelle Williams was selected to play the lead character's former wife
and Kyle Chandler was cast as Affleck's character's older brother on February 24. In April 2015, Lucas Hedges joined the cast of the film. Lonergan has said Hedges' audition was "special" but that he was unsure how the young actor would perform "because his background is so different . Ultimately he did a beautiful job." It was later revealed Erica McDermott had also been cast. Coming from a theater background, Lonergan had the actors rehearse table read-style for two weeks before filming.