Manchester by the Sea, an American drama starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler, is a very good film. At 2 hours 17 minutes it's about half an hour too long, but it's a very good film in spite of that.
Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a complex man struggling to keep afloat in his own grief. I'll let you discover what caused much of that grief but part of it is that his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has died and he finds himself the guardian of Joe's teenage son Patrick.
Sometimes when the characters in a film are grieving I find it makes the film unpleasant to watch, just because you get caught up in the grief and it drags you down. Now whilst this film is not what I'd call a toe-tapper, it doesn't drag you down. It just makes you really care about the characters.
The film jumps between times when Lee is married to Randi, Michelle Williams, and to a later time when they are no longer together. I usually prefer a more linear structure (I'm just a simple gal with simple tastes) but this is actually fine and Michelle Williams gives a very good performance; probably the best I've seen her. But speaking of very good performances, brace yourself for Casey Affleck. If you've ever wanted evidence that he's a superior actor to his brother Ben (#lowbar) you'll find it here. He's brilliant. (It made me ponder why he hasn't had more work and a mate basically said DER and outlined this to me. I'd forgotten.)
There's some sad moments that made me reach for a tissue but there's also some unexpected laughs. If they shaved 25-30 minutes off the first hour of the film which is a little slow, it would be top notch but as it is, it's excellent and still worth a look.
Here's a four star review in the Sydney Morning Herald if you want to read more. Opens in cinemas on Thursday 2 February. Trailer here.