By: Jack Wallace
It turns out that there is more than one talented Affleck brother. Casey Affleck recently starred in a film called Manchester By The Sea which took home two Oscars, one being best actor for Affleck’s outstanding performance. It also won best original screenplay by beating out La La Land and a few other films. I found this movie to be entertaining and quite enlightening.
Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a mentally distressed man in his late thirties to early forties living his life in solitude. He works as a maintenance man for an apartment building in downtown Quincy, MA. He discovers that his older brother Joe recently passed away from a heart condition that he had been battling for several years. Joe leaves behind his sixteen year old son Patrick with no one to care for him. Patrick’s mother was an alcoholic who left their lives when Joe was diagnosed with his heart condition. Patrick has built a life in Manchester which is relatively far away from where Lee lives in the Boston area.
Lee now has the huge issue of trying to keep his own life in tact while trying to keep Patrick happy as well. Lee refuses to move to Manchester to avoid his mental demons he created many years ago after a tragic accident.
As sad as this movie was, it shows us how important love and family are. It also shows you a man living in seclusion maybe to keep people away from such a life. Lee made a huge mistake in his life that he will never be able to forget. Life can be a cruel thing sometimes, but as an individual you need to be strong and persevere through it for yourself and the people that care about you like your family and friends. Isolating yourself won’t erase your past, you need to embrace what happened and become a stronger person from it. I think that a lot of people that have made severe mistakes in their own lives can take a lot from seeing this movie. Just because you think that your life is ruined , doesn’t mean that it’s over yet.
Personally I thought this movie was very intriguing. Casey Affleck’s performance was phenomenal and it really tied the entire film together. Lee’s character represents a part of all of us that believes we don’t deserve love from others when we really do. Manchester by the Sea was a compelling film and I would encourage anyone to go see it.
