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Amir Movie Review: Manchester by the Sea

amirm

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Just finished watching Manchester by the Sea on Blu-ray:

Manchester_by_the_Sea.jpg


It has won numerous awards. It stars Casey Affleck (brother of Ben Affleck). It has a highly realistic and natural acting style.

It has tons of flash back and forward making it difficult to grasp what all is going on until almost the end.

It is a kind of movie that I usually like but I just didn't. The gloomy mood goes on for the entire movie. The "realism" even gets old with people talking over each other, pauses, not hearing each other, etc.

The ending is not satisfying at all. For once, I wanted a predictable hollywood ending to pull one out of the gutter emotionally after watching so much gloominess. Alas, it doesn't happen much.

It is a kind of movie that tries too hard to be artistic and in there, it misses the element of entertainment. Do I want to sit there and be depressed for 90 minutes, struggle to follow the story, and have not much resolution at the end? No I don't. :)

Can't recommend it. There is enough sadness in the world to not want to drown yourself into it for the sake of watching a movie.
 

Blumlein 88

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Excellent review, and sums up how I felt about it.

I tried three times to watch it. Never made it beyond halfway. I would even say despite having all the ingredients it is the art it lacks. It seemed like wallowing in misery for no particular point.
 
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Agree totally with you Amir.

Watched it last night together with spouse, me insisting on watching the movie.

It didn't end well, I've now lost all my movie recommendation credibility.
 
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amirm

amirm

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Watched a bit of it with director commentary. He said that Mat Damon and another guy suggested the idea of a person returning to his home after a tragedy and having to stay there to take care of someone or something like it. The writer/director then noodled on it and made the movie in "linear fashion" (i.e. past to present). He said he watched it and it was boring! So he mixed the scenes up in edit and it got a lot better. Yeh right.
 

Blumlein 88

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That sounds believable. Also sounds like making a bland dish and deciding it is great if you just slather it in something spicy.
 
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