Manchester by the Sea (2016) * * * *

Directed by:  Kenneth Lonergan

Starring:  Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, Matthew Broderick, C.J. Wilson, Tate Donovan

I have seen very few films that understand the complexities of grief, guilt, and loss in the way Manchester by the Sea does.    However, that does not mean it is a harrowing, heavy drama.    It sees these complexities as a way of uncovering the humor and truth in human nature.     Manchester by the Sea is wise and appropriately humorous.     It knows when to allow its characters to breathe and be themselves.    It also knows when and how to let us see inside and let their pain touch us.    The movie is a masterwork of tone.     It never steps wrong even though the fragile emotions of its people lurk forever beneath the surface and, if handled incorrectly, could disrupt everything that makes Manchester by the Sea so wondrous.

The movie begins as an observation of the daily life of Boston custodian Lee Chandler (Affleck), who fixes up plumbing issues for the tenants of four apartment buildings.    He is rather reticent and prefers not to engage in small talk or even any talk with the tenants.     He has a tendency to allow his bubbling rage to explode in the form of bar fights and cursing out tenants.     It seems these are not one-off occurrences for him.    He is surely troubled, but it is only after he receives a call about his older brother's death that we truly discover how troubled and why.  

In flashbacks to happier times, we learn Lee was happily married to Randi (Williams) and was a father of three young children.    They had a nice home in the woods near Manchester, Massachusetts.   Lee would also spend time with his nephew Patrick (Hedges) and his now-deceased brother Joe (Chandler) aboard the family fishing boat.     Life is good, until suddenly, thanks to a tragic house fire, life isn't good anymore.     With Joe now gone, Lee is stunned to learn his brother wills guardianship of Patrick over to him.    Lee, despite his love for his nephew, does not feel up to the task.    We gradually learn why he feels that way.   

Patrick seems to take the news of his father's passing in stride.    He still goes to school the day after the passing and practices with his band, while maintaining relationships with two girlfriends.     Maybe he is in shock or maybe he can't allow the pain to touch him.     Yet, the emotions will always find their way to the surface and they erupt in a powerful scene involving meat falling out of an overstuffed freezer.   

Lee tries to juggle his new responsibilities while processing old guilt that will forever haunt him.    He tries to function, but no one would blame him if he were to crumble to the ground in sheer emotional agony every now and then.     Lee's unwillingness to let others in, even the mother of one of Patrick's girlfriends who is clearly interested in him, stems from almost a self-imposed punishment.    Because he made a tragic mistake one night while drunk, he feels he must be punished, if not by the law, then in some other way.

I know I am making Manchester by the Sea sound like a real downer, but it isn't.    The movie is funny and gets a kick out of how its characters express themselves in their own direct way.     Watch how Randi kicks Lee's loud, drunken friends out of her house at 2am.    Observe how Patrick lists all of the reasons why he can't move with Lee to Boston.     Catch the little moments of truth and sarcasm after Lee cuts his hand after punching a window.     Patrick asks him after noticing his heavily bandaged, bloody hand, "What happened to your hand?"   Lee replies, "I cut it."   Patrick replies, deadpan, "Oh, for a minute there I didn't know what happened,"    The movie has countless moments like that to treasure.

There is also the matter of Patrick's mother (Mol), who once was married to Joe before going off on a journey of addiction and self-destruction.     She seemingly recovers and is engaged to a proper (maybe too proper) man named Jeff (Broderick).     The three have lunch at Jeff's house, and the lunch is one big ball of tension and uncertainty.    Are we at all surprised when Mom leaves the table and moments later we hear the refrigerator door opening with bottles clanging together?     It is said she doesn't drink anymore.    My first thought is that she doesn't drink any less either.

The best scene in the movie involves Lee's chance meeting with the now remarried Randi, who just had a baby and is seemingly starting over.    Yet, her tears, her sadness, her apologies to Lee, and her expressions of love tell us otherwise.     It is the type of scene that will earn Williams a fourth Oscar nomination and maybe even a win.    It is that good.    

Affleck is also masterful here.    He is all elbows with people because he can't let himself off the hook for his past.    He resists an actor's desire to emote and draw attention to his pain in every scene.    He is the character least likely to draw attention to himself even though he clearly needs to.     However, with every polite refusal of dinner or a beer, we can't help but feel that he won't let himself out of his shell.    But, we also know how much he loved his brother and how much he loves his nephew.    All of this in one complex package.    

The movie itself is like Lee.    There are moments of joy, long stretches of pain, and even bigger possibilities of hope that things may change for the better if only the people would allow it.     Grief has no timetable.     It is a process that never has an end.    We all experience it.    We all know its effects.    We can either let it destroy us or find the courage to take steps forward.    Writer-director Lonergan has written and directed a movie which understands this inside and out.    The amount of insight into Lee, Patrick, Randi, and to a lesser extent Joe, is a revelation.     The entire movie is.