Manchester by the Sea

Kenneth Lonergan, 2016

IMDB

4/5

Any New Englander is going to feel a sense of familiarity to Manchester by the Sea. It's a movie filled with characters constantly battling the cold temperatures, something we are all used to dealing with in the Northeast. But these characters, while possibly making the mistake of dressing a little too lightly, are tough people. They have endured. There is a sense of resilience. These are working class people who are dealing with the difficulties of ordinary life. Loss of a loved one, past mistakes, struggling to make that next dollar.

Casey Affleck is a proper casting choice for the Lee Chandler character because he's not a very external actor. Lee is not a very external character. Lee bottles things up. He carries the weight of his past on his back. The only release for him is the occasional bar-fight that can be provoked by something as simple as accidentally bumping into him. So it's safe to say he's a man on edge. He becomes a profoundly sympathetic character when more of his past is revealed during the films constant flashbacks. There's just so much nuance to his character, along with the other characters in this film. Kyle Chandler, who plays Lee's brother Joe, brings the same level of consistency that he always brings. Chandler is really one of those actors that is always just dependable. Michelle Williams continues to prove how unbelievably good she is. She has this ability to pull a reaction out of you with little dialogue. She's all in with her supporting performance as Randi Chandler. The standout scene with her being an alleyway confrontation with Lee that dares you to not tear up.

This is a movie where you can't point fingers. Everyone is struggling in some way or another, just like normal folk do. There is a defining turning point in the tone of this film that you never fully recover from, even after the end credits. That's why it takes such an emotional toll on you. Because this is a real movie, maybe too real. You aren't spoon-fed a Hollywood ending here. This film ends just like life goes on. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't, sometimes it's neither. Sometimes things just keep on keeping on. You just continue to exist in the world, with no choice but to carry the entirety of your history with you.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints

David Lowery, 2013

IMDB

2/5

On paper the idea of a southern rom-dram starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara is interesting. The two, both accomplished actors, have been part of some of the best films to come out within the past twenty years. Affleck himself has played the criminal on the run before, in the very much under-rated The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. He's certainly playing a cousin of his Robert Ford character, an elusive untrustworthy soft-speaking figure that has hints of innocence behind obvious youthful naivete. But there is a vast difference between Ain't them Bodies and Jesse James. Bodies is basically a game of cat and mouse with a ticking clock. Bob Muldoon (Affleck), after many attempts of escaping prison, has finally managed to escape and very predictably is planning reuniting with his love Ruth (Mara). Their early moments spent together on screen were the two of them participating in a very Bonnie & Clyde-like excursion. One that left one of their partners in crime dead and an officer shot. Pregnant Ruth is spared prosecution while Bob takes the fall and gets the book thrown at him. The people around Ruth figure that having the child and being separated from Bob will be a good opportunity for her to have a normal life that doesn't involve criminal acts. Standing in between the pairs fateful reunion is father figure / neighbor Skerritt (Keith Carradine) and local cop Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster).

It's a story that doesn't feel all that gripping or even original for that matter. It feels like a dull whispery drama that could have been something better. The Bob character doesn't really feel like a character worth getting behind. Their love together never really feels like much more than a lot of young body rubbing that inadvertently created a little daughter. Mara, who probably provides the most compelling performance in the film, is not much more than a woman that is mired in indecision on whether or not to be the reformed mother or continue to like the bad boys. The dim lighting, the cold aluminum siding, the shadow-ridden barn that Bob hides in, are all failed attempts at creating any visual impressions. Bodies is a forgettable picture that doesn't hide it's admiration for Bonnie and Clyde but completely lacks the greatness of it.

Out of the Furnace

Scott Cooper, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Russell Baze is struggling to make ends meat while also trying to take care of his ailing father and reckless veteran brother who struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder from his tours in Iraq.

You are immediately faced with the paint-peeling working-class rust-colored backdrop of North Braddock Pennsylvania. The obvious sense of blue-collar gloom is evident throughout the picture, as if everyone in the film is connected to the steel mill in one way or another and worried that it can close it’s doors and put set off a domino-effect of depression. Bale brings more of a restrained energy to his Russell character. Instead of a salient effect to his voice there are traces of a Pittsburgh(ish) accent that glints from his marble mouth here and there. Bale’s character Russell is most certainly connected to the mill, where you see him grueling over fire pits covered in grime. He draws an immediate sense of sympathy for his character when you see how he looks out for those close to him and how hard he works to do so. You get a sense that there is inescapable hardship for him, as if he can never leave the doomed industrial town he’s certainly residing in. He’s loyal to his family. He sees the damage that the war caused on his brother Rodney has endured both physically and psychologically and rather than continue to press him on it, he quietly tries to assist him however he can (most of the time being financially). Most of the time it’s just by being loyal to him. But there’s an obvious sense of protection that he feels for him, as if its a promise he made to his father. But more than likely it’s a promise he has made to himself. Although his character is a man with mistakes, he is willing to pay his debts to society and attempt to right his wrongs. He carries his guilt like it’s a ten pound weight strapped to his soul. And even with the unforgivable things he may have done, he has a sense of warm loyalty and Bale manages to keep you engaged in his Russell character and stay on his side. While Rodney takes his hits on the face, Russell takes them to the heart.
 
Cooper succeeds in developing nuanced characters rather thoroughly than just making a action-packed revenge piece after a character gets wiped out in the first twenty minutes. In one sense it’s a story about a man’s misfortune, but there are many other forces at work and every actor involved in the film really contributes a multi-layered performance. It’s a heavily masculine piece as well. There is an overt lack of estrogen flowing, as you only see one or two female characters. We finally get another taste of Woody Harrelson working on the dark side. He never disappoints as a villain, and his Harlan DeGroat character is something right out of the evil forces his character attempts to track down in HBO’s True Detective. Out of the Furnace is pure drama, providing us with the lasting image of a strained man mired in the melodrama of personal conflicts in a struggling city.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Andrew Dominik, 2007

5/5

A really great film. I'm mad at myself for not watching this sooner as it sat on my tv stand in the netflix envelope for over a month. The photography in this film is so beautiful. Amazing Vignette shots throughout the beginning. As the train approaches through the forest, the way Dominik used the light through the trees is one of the best shots ive seen in years. The pacing is so perfect, scattered violence isn't over the top or gratuitous. The setting, late 1800's Midwest, reminded me of "Deadwood" and "There will be blood". The song, "Song for Jesse" by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, plays throughout the film and is now on one of my Spotify playlists. The cast is packed with talent. Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Paul Schneider all contribute great performances. If i made a list for top films of 2000-2010, this would certainly be on it. I plan on rewatching soon.