Manchester by the Sea (fantasy, actor, music, watch)
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I think the movie is realistic like the other Lonergan film, You Can Count on Me. It'd be too Hollywood if he got with the gfs mother and was happy with life. He can't live in the place where his kids died and his ex has a new family and no one will give him a job. In his defense, he tried for his nephew's sake.
^I love You Can Count on Me. Laura Linney is a revelation.
It has the same kind of flow. No Hollywood ending. I think Lonergan is more of a playwright than a screenwriter as far as structure. Not many plays have positive outcomes.
It was a good movie overall. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Too dreary, depressing and frankly too real. Spoiler, I was hoping for a more hopeful ending. The guy was too broken and wasn't probably ever really going to move forward in his life. Maybe, but doubtful. The scene where he's repairing something and the guy is standing there telling a grim story about a fisherman who left on his boat one day and never came back, it was like he just faded away never to be heard from again. That scene had to be a foreshadowing of what was in store for our protagonist.
Again, unfortunately that happens in life a lot. Many people don't have the ride off into the sunset happy ending in real life.
Manchester by the Sea SUCKS! It's a very depressing and way to long film about some folks who all carry unresolved, unhappy and ANGRY feelings that are never explained in the film and it just relies on very crude language to make any points at all. There is almost NO humor in there and a lot of emotional disturbances that are NEVER RESOLVED with a very bad ending to boot!
Thank you! I thought it was the most boring movie I've seen in a long time. No plot, no closure at the end, just left us hanging. It's going on my list of worst movies I've ever seen. I can't believe how so many people think it was great, including my adult son.
It was a good movie overall. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Too dreary, depressing and frankly too real. Spoiler, I was hoping for a more hopeful ending.
I thought it had a somewhat hopeful ending. With all that had happened, he knew he had to move back to Boston and couldnt stay in Manchester-by-the-Sea. He got a two bedroom apartment so that his nephew could come visit and stay with him. He had some closure in his life. So while there wasn't a big dramatic change in his life, I felt he was better off by the end of the movie then where he had been.
Thank you! I thought it was the most boring movie I've seen in a long time. No plot, no closure at the end, just left us hanging. It's going on my list of worst movies I've ever seen. I can't believe how so many people think it was great, including my adult son.
Life doesn't always have closure. The movie was about his time in Manchester-by-the-Sea, and ended with him moving back to Boston.
I apologize in advance for such a long post! People brought up a lot of different points.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skins_fan82
One of the best movies I've seen all year. I see multiple Oscar noms coming. Casey is one of the most underrated actors out there.
I completely agree. I don't know if it's because of the movies he picks or what.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn
Kenneth Lonergan did an outstanding job here, and is a worth follow up to his Margaret (2011) (which stars Anna Paquin, who made her acting debut in The Piano, which I just rewatched). He is added to my list of directors to follow. The penultimate scene lasts a few minutes, but is worth the price of admission by itself. The theater got really dusty at that moment.
Spoiler
Lee and Randi meet in the street.
That scene was incredible. And such a build-up to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn
Spoiler
A lesser director would have shown the three pictures in black frames. Chuckled a bit when they showed how he got the chair and couch he's seen throwing away into the dumpster later on in the film. Two kids from Wes Anderson's Moonlight Kingdom star - his first girlfriend Silvie / Kara Hayward, and Patrick / Lucas Hedges.
Good catch on the second comment! I missed that. And I was actually paying attention to them in both scenes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimrich
Manchester by the Sea SUCKS! It's a very depressing and way to long film about some folks who all carry unresolved, unhappy and ANGRY feelings that are never explained in the film and it just relies on very crude language to make any points at all.
?! Which characters are you referring to?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimrich
There is almost NO humor in there and a lot of emotional disturbances that are NEVER RESOLVED with a very bad ending to boot!
Actually, I thought there were quite a few pretty funny moments. But you couldn't have too much because that would affect the overall tone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimrich
Worst and most DEPRESSING film I've ever sat through and WAY TOO LONG for such a pointless story. The whole film is about repressed painful feelings that are never explained in any way and how the lead character occasionally EXPLODES whenever he is triggered.
Lousy movie!
You keep saying the painful feelings are never explained. I can't understand what you mean by that. Did you watch the entire movie? I'm not being sarcastic.
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Originally Posted by Ringo1
We saw it on Christmas Day.
I thought it was a great movie, if a tad long.
A couple of the scenes really, really stuck with me.
Spoiler
The scene where he grabbed the cop's gun and put it to his head; and the scene where he and Michelle Williams met on the street. WOW.
I agree. The first scene took me completely off guard. And I keep trying to come up with a word to describe the second one. I think "wow" covers it.
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Originally Posted by Ringo1
My son is a writer and he REALLY liked it.
Sad and haunting with beautiful scenery and music.
Yes, I loved all of it.
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Originally Posted by kayanne
I hated it. Very slow-moving. The whole first hour or so I kept thinking, "It's got to get better! It got such great reviews!" Then the second hour crawled along, and I was still not impressed. Then it finally ended and I said to my husband, "I didn't like that AT ALL." Depressing, dreary, and a very unsatisying ending. And it's not as if I only enjoy comedies or shallow, upbeat movies. I love good dramas, but Manchester By the Sea just didn't do it for me. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone even if it was free on Netflix.
But that's just my opinion.
Spoiler
Just like his life now. It's not ever going to be satisfying for him again. "I can't beat it. I can't beat it."
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Originally Posted by hertfordshire
Just saw this last night (I'm doing the Regal Oscar Movie Marathon and tackling 7 movies in 6 days)
I honestly don't get all the love for this movie. Can't figure out what I'm missing. It was ridiculously slow and morose and took far too long to get to the background of why Affleck's character is the way he is. And then once that background was revealed (which took all of 5-10 minutes), it was pretty much pushed to the back burner with the exception of the appearance of the picture frames, a 5 second "dream" with his daughters, and the last scene with Michelle Williams (who is on my "irrational hate list," but who I have to admit did a good job). It just hung out there but wasn't addressed. The rest of the time was spent waiting through all the requisite pregnant pauses in the dialogue, that if removed could have compressed the movie by a half hour or more.
I will say that the setting was beautiful. But that's pretty much all I enjoyed.
Next up ... Moonlight.
Spoiler
Like I said above, it permeates every miserable moment of his life. That's why the whole movie has that haunting feeling about it, because he's haunted. The movie drags on because his life is just dragging on. He's dead inside, but his life goes on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiluvr1228
Thank you! I thought it was the most boring movie I've seen in a long time. No plot, no closure at the end, just left us hanging. It's going on my list of worst movies I've ever seen. I can't believe how so many people think it was great, including my adult son.
lol! But, again, he can't get closure.
Anyway, I really liked it. It is long and it is slow, and I can understand why some people didn't like it. But I'm still thinking about it days afterward. I think Casey and Michelle should both win the Oscar, and I haven't even watched all the others nominated. lol
I thought it had a somewhat hopeful ending. With all that had happened, he knew he had to move back to Boston and couldnt stay in Manchester-by-the-Sea. He got a two bedroom apartment so that his nephew could come visit and stay with him. He had some closure in his life. So while there wasn't a big dramatic change in his life, I felt he was better off by the end of the movie then where he had been.
I do agree with that.
Spoiler
And while he still couldn't forgive himself, at least his ex-wife had somewhat healed and had kind words for him.
It is long and it is slow, and I can understand why some people didn't like it. But I'm still thinking about it days afterward.
Yes. What stayed with me was the remarkably strong emotional support that so many of the men in the film provided for each other. That was very poignant.
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