Kenneth Lonergan wrote and directed one of this year’s critic-adored films, Manchester by the Sea, a movie that rightfully earned him two Academy Award nominations for “Best Achievement in Directing” and “Best Original Screenplay.” The film received six nominations, which speaks volumes about the casting director, Douglas Aibel, as three of these nominations are for the authentic acting of the film’s protagonists: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, and Lucas Hedges.
I had a particular adoration for this movie because of the striking resemblance it had to my favorite movie, Good Will Hunting. Casey Affleck had a role in the 1997 box-office hit, and Matt Damon, who starred in Good Will Hunting, co-produced Manchester by the Sea.
Both movies were accentuated with Boston lingo and recognizable sites of the aesthetically pleasing state of Massachusetts. They demonstrated the importance of candid, heart-to-heart conversations and emphasized themes of love and loss incomparable to many other movies of their genre. There was even a similarity in the use of a janitor archetype, adopted by Affleck’s 2016 character from Damon’s 1997 character. Despite these obvious similarities, the two films have one large difference; unlike Good Will Hunting, Manchester by the Sea will most likely never be deemed a modern classic.
If anything in Manchester by the Sea is worth praising, it is the performance of Hollywood newbie, Lucas Hedges. Hedges, who was younger than 19 at the beginning of filming, played minor roles in two former Oscar contending movies, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel.However, his full acting potential had not been reached until now. As the son of an alcoholic mother and deceased father, Hedges’ character displayed a wide range of emotions in this film. He showed the audience the complex thoughts of a male teenager through his experiences, including romantic endeavors with two girlfriends, relationships with estranged family members, and frequent panic attacks as a coping mechanism for his father’s death. I would be pleased to see Hedges win “Best Supporting Actor,” but as a Hollywood newbie, the odds are against him.
Although Manchester by the Sea may not go down in film history, there is no doubt that this movie has admirable qualities. Watch the emotionally charged performance at your local theatre, or watch it on DVD at your leisure after February 21, 2017.
