Kenneth Lonergan
Manchester By The Sea

Manchester By The Sea - 2016

TOTALLY NO SPOILER
"Tragic events have the power to transform even the strongest personalities."
This is the guiding thread that connects all the scenes of Manchester By The Sea, a film with a simple plot but excellently constructed.
The protagonist is Lee Chandler, a janitor/plumber from Boston, as hermetic as few characters ever seen, an alcoholic fleeing from himself and his past, who, due to a series of events, finds himself as the guardian of his nephew, Patrick, the classic popular high school boy.
The relationship between the two is problematic from the start, and the dialogues are on the verge of minimalism, due to Lee, who proves to be truly abrasive and closed off even to the most minimal social interactions, both with his nephew and in casual situations.
The film, despite its very serious theme, flows well for over 2 hours, showing us how the development of events can have repercussions on the characters' psyche, an aspect that I greatly appreciated and found to be, in my opinion, the real strength of Manchester By The Sea. Every single character, even the minor ones, is excellently constructed, and the conversations are never trivial, adapting incredibly to the most varied situations, offering a palette of emotions ranging from the "humorous" to the "tragic" situations.
I had the chance to watch it in English (it will be available in Italy from tomorrow), and the acting is extraordinary, never predictable, and well-suited to the theme, making even the presence of seemingly minor characters, such as Randi (Lee's ex-wife), significant. The cold city of Manchester serves as a perfect and almost oxymoronic setting for the film, cold and static in contrast with the constant flow of the personalities that inhabit it. The cinematography deserves special praise for capturing the beauty of New England, which lends itself well to the events.

I found the film an extremely pleasant surprise this boring Wednesday afternoon, expecting a predictable movie that instead offered me great satisfaction, and honestly, I cannot find a flaw in this film, written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, justifying my rating, which I hope you do not consider too generous:
5/5