Manchester by the Sea needs a new compass

Ian Murdock

Special to The Village NewsManchester by the Sea was among a few films that peaked my interest as 2016 came to a close.

While I'm a tremendous fan of Casey Affleck, I am still trying to reconcile how the story of Manchester was completely mangled. With more family loss than anyone could fathom or seemingly endure, this film ought to have been one of the most emotional and moving stories in recent years.

Instead, it seems the writer felt that scene after scene of Affleck's blank stares, little or no conversation, and highly repetitive and poorly taken shots of scenic New England water − all with a bad musical score in the background − would constitute a deeply emotional drama. As highly expressive and talented as Affleck almost always is, this film did him no justice.

Early on, Affleck is thrown into an extremely complicated family situation with his brother and nephew, that he clearly doesn't want to handle, nor is prepared for − on many levels. While he navigates, or one could say fumbles, through all the practicalities, it is almost impossible to embrace the magnitude and gravity of his suffering, because the character interactions are so superficial and strained − virtually non-existent.

Making matters worse, when there was conversation, particularly in the first part of the film, it was filled with four letter language − think Scarface. I have yet to see an epic film where graphic violence or bad language enhanced, or enriched, the story.

With just a few snip-its of quality drama from Affleck and his nephew − in an otherwise painfully long film − somehow, periodic fisticuffs appeared to be the core gut wrenching "tool" the writer used to express the paralyzing heartache and sorrow that Affleck kept buried.

As powerful and heart breaking as this film's content was, the true agony was having to sit through it.