Manchester by the Sea

The Afflecks are a talented family:  Ben did wonders in Argo, which garnered numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture.  And who could forget his great role as a working class guy in Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with Matt Damon?

Brother Casey is no slouch as an actor.  He got an Oscar nomination for his role as the "coward" Ford who shot Jesse James.  He's also known for his fine work in Gone Baby Gone, a kidnapping thriller.  But my personal favorite is his role as a crazy psychopath in The Killer Inside Me.  Don't miss that one!

Manchester is a serious piece.  No spoiler, but the basic plot is that Casey's character is a perennial loser. He has botched just about everything he's done in life, including marriage and jobs.  Unexpectedly, he's called upon to care for a troubled teen, the son of his brother who died.

Check out the picture:  There they are, the troubled twosome.

Does the "loser" rise to the challenge?  If he can't care for himself, how can he care for the nephew?  What about his own search for success?

These are only the surface questions in this dreary, depressing flick.  The tone:  Yes, somber.  Never anything else.  Good thing the story takes place by the sea: up there, it's always cloudy, rainy, and overcast.  Let's not let any sun shine on this tale!

OK, I'm a bit sarcastic on the tone.  Some will argue it's "real."  In fact, pundits of the "slice of life" genre will say that life is a bitch, so just deal with it.  Or better, view it at the movies!

Here's the rub:  I can live with dark films.  I can handle a bleak view of life.  BUT:  I do expect something in return.  What?  Simple:  Character growth and development.

I would argue that nearly every satisfying film teaches us something.  We usually enjoy seeing folks change, hopefully for the better, given a set of life circumstance.  Some might call this redemption.  I would insist that at the minimum a film needs to present characters who grow.

Does Casey's character grow?  Does he learn anything from life's trials?  What about his ex-wife? Does she grow?  And what about the teen's estranged mother....any growth there?

I would argue:  NO!  But others might disagree.

This is the best reason to see this film.  How will you find the characters?  Will you consider them static or organic?  Will you find a redeeming feature in the dour, sour, gloomy mood of the film?

I hope so!

Please note that I have said almost nothing of the plot. There are several plot details that, I must admit, are intriguing.  Check out the flashbacks.  There's good stuff there.

I never spoil films for the viewer. But I must opine on a film I find woefully weak:  Manchester by the Sea.

My grade:  C-    This is generous.  And, by the way, most reviewers LOVE this film.  Guess I've never been a follower.

Jackie

Hi Readers!

It's been some time since Valerie and I have reviewed films.  We got a bit busy with life!  But I am back, and I hope you enjoy some of my thoughts.

SPOILER ALERT:  There is NONE!  haha  Yes,  just a reminder that I never give away plot details in any review.  I can't tell you how annoyed I get reading other reviews that give away details I would appreciate learning on my own when watching the movie!  My other goal:  To make the reviews SHORT.  So with those parameters in mind, I resume the blog and hope you find the comments fun and useful.

By the way, Valerie and I have covered hundreds of films over the five or so years we've been doing this project, so please feel free to browse our titles.

JACKIE:  Oh my, what an enigma she was.  Before saying anything about the film, we recall some of her conflicts.  She was well-educated, having attending Vassar and studied at the Sorbonne.  But as First Lady at a time when being literate as a woman was not prized, she developed the stereotypic wispy, Marilyn Monroe-esque voice and affect of a dingbat!  She loved Jack, but he played around.  Later, after the assassination, she felt insecure financially and married an old magnate twice her age!  That's why the headlines of the 80s read:  "Jackie O! " or "Jackie OH!"  Yes, she was an enigma.

On to the movie.  There is one major reason to see this film.  Natalie Portman does an exquisite job of capturing Jackie.  The mannerisms are uncannily accurate.  The voice, the face, the gestures...pure Jackie.  Think of Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin.  Yes, viewers, you will rarely see acting brilliance like this.

Unless some other actress comes along with a whopper of a role, consider Natalie Portman a shoo-in for Best Actress.

This would be her second one!  Wasn't she great in Black Swan?  If you did not see it, rent it and watch her enormous talent.  By the way, go back to when she was a young teen if  you want to see her great acting ability in its infancy, in a film called The Professional.

What about the film itself?  Pathetically empty.  I had hoped to learn something of the times. I wanted to learn new things about JFK, about the marriage, about the assassination...about something!  I can't say the film gave me one new piece of information.

Yet the times were entrancing!  JFK and Jackie did create Camelot in the White House.  They epitomized youth and vibrancy.  Who can forget the music soirees they presented?  Who can forget the wonderful pictures of little John-John running around under the president's desk?  Or Jackie wowing Charles De Gaulle by speaking French?

So why didn't the film capture some of the magic?  Why didn't it show us the charm and wonder of the JFK years? Why didn't it get deeper into the marriage? Why didn't it give us some Jackie history via flashbacks, say when she first met JFK?

No idea. Maybe the director did not want to portray any of the joy of the times.  Or maybe everyone just wanted to focus on Natalie's acting.

Without giving any spoiler details, I'd simply label the film DOUR.  Sad, depressing, bleak, dark...like a two-hour funeral.  You'll get to see just that:  lots of shots of the funeral, folks in black, folks with tears, folks in shock.

Sure, the terrible days when JFK was shot, the ensuing funeral, the murder of Oswald, and the transition of power were daunting and heart-wrenching.  But there was so much more to the story!  In fact, the major question I'd have addressed is this: Why did America love this couple so much?  Why did they love Jackie?

So my grade for the film is C-.  That's generous, because I'm a former teacher, and I hate to give failing grades!

However:  A+ for superb acting.