Manchester by the Sea

[hollyisalovelyname]

Has anybody seen it yet?

[AgentCooper]

I have! I loved it. Hard going but really beautiful.

[GriefLeavesItsMark]

Yes, also loved it, but I'm a big fan of mumblecore.

The people who went to see it because they couldn't get in to Paula land were sadly disappointed.

[AgentCooper]

Casey Affleck was something else, wasn't he Grief? I believed every word. If he doesn't get the Best Actor Oscar I'll be shocked. The nephew was brilliant too, really lovely, natural performance. It was genuinely funny at points too, which I think added to the realism, it wasn't all one note sadness.

[Eastie77]

Great film. Loved Michelle Williams too. She has never disappointed me in any films I've seen her in.

[GriefLeavesItsMark]

Casey Affleck was astounding, he has always gone under my radar, so I had no idea he was so good.

The band 'We are Stentorius!' Made me laugh a lot.

[Squigglypig]

That was heart rending and still managed to be light hearted in places. There was not a duff performance in any of the actors. Really impressed with Case you, the teenage actor and I'd also forgotten how brilliant Michelle Williams is. Amazing!

[Squigglypig]

Caseya

[VeryBitchyRestingFace]

Saw it yesterday. Soooo sad. The couple sitting beside me in cinema hated it though.

My colleague was raving about how hot CA is. I was rather taken with the guy playing his brother.

[AgentCooper]

I definitely agree with your colleague re: CA, Very, think he might have brought my ovulation forward

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

I loved it... but agree it was completely hard going.

I am a big fan of Michelle Williams but for me, her scene with CA when they bump into each other when she's pushing the buggy felt wrong. Her crying / way of speaking felt like 'acting'... and I never usually find that with her. (And she loves to take on a traumatic role doesn't she!! )

[hollyisalovelyname]

OMG
It is really good.
The denouement, obviously not the finale, was 😱😱😱.
I agree CA's brother in the film was very handsome.
That scene with Michelle Williams was a little too long.
I didn't think the widow was great.
The nurse in the hospital was rather uncaring.

[VeryBitchyRestingFace]

I thought MW was great.

I'm so glad I preferred her to Katie Holmes in Dawson's Creek way back in the day.

All my friends loved KH and teased me for being "mainstream" in liking MW.

But look who got an actual career versus who got an insane nutjob jumping on a sofa in front of millions for her!!!

Aherm. Yes, the movie was excellent. And unlike some others, I really believed MW in the buggy scene.

Looked bloody cold in MbtS though.

[Eastie77]

Yeah MW definitely had the last laugh re. Katie Holmes who was the darling of Dawson's Creek for some unknown reason - her character was so annoying and drippy. I'm obviously not insanely jealous and bitter that she got to kiss Pacey

But I digress. MW really does take on challenging roles which is why I like her. I thought the buggy scene was quite believable but yeah maybe a tad too long.

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

She's an amazing actress.. I went against the grain and rooted for in Dawson's creek too :p bit her crying was bizarre!! I've seen her cry and cried with the character in many roles.... but what was with the random pursed lipped crying? It felt completely forced.

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

So many typos, apologies!!

[hollyisalovelyname]

I just read a film critic's review - they praised it but they end with ' A shame the female characters are so one- note'
I feel a little bit vindicated re my remarks on MW ( the meeting with CA being a tad long) and Gretchen Moll.

[AgentCooper]

I think you could say that most of the characters other than Casey Affleck and his nephew were pretty one-note, not just the women, but there was a good reason for that. The whole thing was about Lee and his perspective and the awful feeling that he was carrying around, evidenced by the showing of so much of the action in Lee's flashbacks. The only scenes he wasn't in were those with Patrick alone or with one of his girlfriends, and so there wasn't really room for the development of other characters that much. I don't think there needed to be, though.

And I thought MW was great in the buggy scene because it was long and ugly and uncomfortable, as it would be in real life. The scene where Lee is dreaming about his wee girls and the smoke alarm wakes him up - that was brutal. It must have been gruelling to play that role.

And I am such a sucker for a Massachusetts accent, the way they say 'cah' for car and 'Stah Trek' A bad fake Mass accent is so obvious (like some actors in The Departed) but nobody's felt forced in this.

[JustDanceAddict]

Amazing film. Made for a depressing Sat night out (my friend & I were a bit lost for words afterwards - the whole cinema was so quiet when the credits started rolling), but I thought it was wonderfully done and agree re the main actors all being fantastic. Agree the denouement was heartbreaking - did not expect that - I can't even begin to imagine how he felt, but my friend said 'there is def a place for counselling'. Lee needed it.

[7to25]

I agree with all above.
The buggy scene was so uncomfortable, it felt long and I think that was the intention. If Casey Afflec doesn't get an oscar there is no justice.
OK I know there is no justice.

[JustDanceAddict]

I agree re buggy scene. Was meant to be uncomfortable.

[Eastpoint]

That was such a good film. I'm sitting in my car crying too much to go home. I had to remind myself that it's only a story & that I don't know them. Heartbreaking.

[lokisglowstickofdestiny1]

Loved it. The only part that jarred was the ambulance scene. It was apparently an outtake that the director decided to leave in. You had been put through the emotional wringer up to that part, I was crying at that point, then you get the scene of the paramedics fumbling around with the gurney, it didn't sit right with me. Apart from that a fabulous film, better than the over-hyped LaLaLand.

[mmack]

It was brilliant. The actor who played Patrick deserves an Oscar just for the scene where he broke down in the kitchen. Casey Affleck is very good at acting convincingly drunk-a lot of actors can't do it.

[Deathraystare]

I'm so glad I preferred her to Katie Holmes in Dawson's Creek way back in the day.


Oh absolutely!

Loved the film. Casey was brilliant. I just wanted to hug him. Loved the nephew. He was very popular with the girls!

[FreeNiki]

It is the closest I have ever come to walking out of a film and I wish I had.

Dull drawn out and little plot.

The tragedy that led to Affleck's divorce and numbness couldn't make me feel any empathy for his plight. The nephew is a foul mouthed, obnoxious, two timing little sod and there was no affection between him and his uncle.

The nephew barely seemed affected by his fathers death at all. One scene of tears I think.

Totally unsympathetic characters and a dull and boring story.