SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE
SIGN IN SEARCH MENU
SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE


Get your reviews and insights on everything to do with movies and TV, locally and internationally.

Oscar Best Picture Review: Manchester by the Sea

Written by tha - bang from the blog Movies and Things with Thabang on 14 Feb 2017
Favourite this post


For a couple of years the Oscars have always had an indie outsider running for Best Picture and this year that honour falls to Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea. Does Casey Affleck have the chops to take Best Actor from Denzel Washington? Can Manchester by the Sea beat Moonlight and La La Land to be this year Best Picture? Let's dig in.



Matt Damon was originally going to direct and act in Manchester by the Sea but passed it onto his friends Casey Affleck to star in and Kenneth Lonergan to write and direct. I believe it was a great choice 'cause Lonergan imbues Manchester with dry wit which the guys from the Savannah cider ads would kill for.



Lonergan is able to create raw human emotions and almost life-like dialogue, and shows that he too can play with story narrative structure like a master. Throw in a subtle but great performance by Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams (oh my how she's grown from the Dawson Creek days) and you have the Oscar buzz.

But is the Oscar buzz legit? As far as the performances go, I think Casey Affleck is cool but I don't think it's anything new from what he did in Gone Baby Gone. Michelle Williams has upped her game but is it good enough to beat Viola Davis' crying and swallowing her own tears and mucus in Fences? I think not.

Yet I think it is a front runner for Best Picture with La La land and Moonlight because the story is damn good. Grief is a hard topic to tackle, especially in our navel gazing times where adults prefer pubescent superhero movies "where everything is awesome" and the tone is very light.

This film tackles grief in an honest yet funny way if you can get into its humour, without becoming whimsical about a not-so-whimsical theme. It succeeds in creating a window into a life, in showing us a truth about life whilst entertaining us with a very sad topic.

It reminds us of the power of family, love and moving on whilst also showing the limits of love, family and moving on. It's one of my favourite movies for 2016 and if it does get the Best Picture, I wouldn't complain even though it's not for everyone.

Rating
*****
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Rubbish **it needs aromat ***ja nee **** Almost Perfect *****Instant Classic

Links to my other 2017 Oscars Best Picture reviews:

The Arrival

Hidden Figures



2 Comments

wonderlad
15 Feb 2017 14:56

I'm going to say that Manchester is the best of the Oscar contenders I have seen. You are right that it is very difficult to gauge Affleck's performance because the character is so bottled up without being intense - just devoid of emotion for most of it. Still I was a wreck during some of those crucial scenes and hadn't had such a big cry in a long time. I would say that the direction is superb - while the content is quite macabre, Lonergan's touch is so light that it's never ever dull or depressing on the whole.

tha - bang
21 Feb 2017 14:21

hey wonderlad im interested in seeing how manchester, moonlight, arrival do in contrast to la la land, come oscar time 


Only TVSA members can reply to this thread. Click here to login or register.






LATEST ARTICLES

Anupama Teasers - April 2024

Anupama urges Ankush to have a chat with Romil after catching him watching an adult movie.


Titli Teasers - April 2024

The celebrations commence grandly, yet Titli begins to have doubts about the marriage.


My Brother's Keeper Teasers - April 2024

Series finale! Fakazile comes guns blazing for the Mshengu.


New on TV today: Friday 29 March 2024

There's music and lights in SuperCulture on Channel O and the film Wallflower airs on Fuse TV.


Game of Lies Teasers - April 2024

Series finale! The rescue attempt gets underway before a final reckoning.


Gqeberha: The Empire 2 Teasers - April 2024

The Mxenge Hotel turns into a whodunnit. A gunshot. Murder. In which room and by who?


The Wife 3 Teasers - April 2024

Naledi’s sex tape sees the spotlight again and catches her in the headlights.


Skerpioen Teasers - April 2024

A torched boat, poison in wine and youthful memories die when Ferda tries to kill Ahmet.


Imlie Teasers - April 2024

Imlie takes Ashu to the hospital when he falls ill, but kidnappers attempt to abduct him.


My Desire Teasers - April 2024

Kaashvi clears her name and reports Pradyumna's bribery attempt to the police.

LATEST SITE ACTIVITY


More activity at TVSA Central



LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS



LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS




Thabang Phetla loves movies,
he loves TV...
he loves his writing...
if you love movies and tv
you will definitely love
his writing on movies and TV.
signed by Thabang's Mom
 
×
×

You browser doesn't have Flash, Silverlight, Gears, BrowserPlus or HTML5 support.