Down and Dirty: Saddest movie I’ve ever seen. Incredibly good film.
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Big Names: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler
You may have heard about this movie. I heard it was a good film but a very sad one. That’s an apt description but it also wildly undersells the depth of the story. This is a character study in pain. Not in a grotesque or artificial way. It is a mirror. It is a nuanced reminder that through an unfortunate cocktail of character flaws and circumstances we are all capable of being the villain in our own tragedy.
As you may know, Casey Affleck recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Manchester by the Sea. The award was completely deserved for his performance in this film, though recent allegations of sexual harassment have cast a dark shadow on his Oscar statue. There are other articles that deal with this issue more deftly than I ever could, but I will say that the issue cannot be ignored and I was deeply disappointed to read that a man of his standing would consider leveraging his position in the industry to mistreat women in any way. While his faults as a man undoubtedly distract from his talent as an actor, his role in this film was something to behold.
There is no better example of his transcendent performance than in a scene that effectively acts as the emotional climax, filling many of the narrative gaps that exist up to that point. It is one of the most moving, depressing, emotionally raw scenes I have ever watched. Two hours after the movie was over I could not shake it from my mind and I reflected very deeply on the emotions it stirred within me. It is odd how I began to empathize with Casey Affleck’s despair having never been a similar position. But I felt it nonetheless. His pain was mine and I could feel the weight of grief.
If you’ve ever been shocked by the news of someone’s death, you know this feeling. But it’s not as simple as death and the associated pain. It is the dissolution of something beautiful. Broken into a thousand pieces, shattered and stolen. It is tragedy.
Then come regret, shame, and self-loathing. Director Kenneth Lonergan has perfected the art of extracting these feelings from his characters and pouring them out into your soul. I cannot describe how exactly he does it but the music, cinematography, and acting blend together in a beautifully sad way that will stir your heart.
Viewers may be upset by the defeatist nature of such tragedies. But isn’t that real life? Aren’t we in fear that there is no grace for the most broken parts of ourselves? The question is asked but remains, in some ways, unanswered in Manchester by the Sea. There is an allusion to the redemption one might find with God, but it is not explored in any great depth. I wish it had been. In my relatively young life, I have found that such redemption exists in God alone. Despite all of our strength, when left to our own devices we become seized by the idea that we deserve to pay the price for our misdeeds and we sink under the weight of it. Manchester by the Sea illustrates this notion in the most unadulterated way imaginable. Casey Affleck is your pain surrogate. Feel what he feels and reflect on the weight of his tragedy. Ask yourself if there is grace enough for him. Ask yourself if there is grace enough for you.
