Drama

Manchester by the Sea

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Manchester by the Sea
  • IMDb: link

Manchester by the SeaWritten and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea is a simple story that provides surprising depth. Following the death of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), the less-reliable Lee (Casey Affleck) is given custody of his Joe’s teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges) forcing him to leave his dreary life in Boston and return to the home he abandoned in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts years before.

Affleck and Lonergan thread a difficult needle here as Lee comes off as immediately unlikable, unreliable, and by all accounts the worst choice to be his nephew’s guardian, while still leaving the door open for our opinion to change as we learn more about his troubled past. It’s a good role for Affleck who knows just how to play the moody loneliness of the character while foreshadowing that there’s something far more complex going on with Lee under the surface. A stark contrast to his mopey uncle, Hedges is is a charismatic lightning bolt everyone seems to gravitate to (such as his multiple girlfriends who include Kara Hayward and Anna Baryshnikov). More together than Lee, most of the time it’s a little unclear who is taking care of who following his father’s death.

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Loving

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Loving
  • IMDb: link

LovingLove is color blind, except in the state of Virginia. Based on the true story of Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), Loving follows the events which led to the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia after the Lovings were expelled from the state under threat of prison for violating the state’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited interracial cohabitation and marriage.

Leaving the legal maneuverings, motions, and trial to occur largely off-screen, instead writer/director Jeff Nichols focuses the film on Richard and Mildred. Despite a world that told them loving each other was wrong, the pair found each other and stood by each other in the years where hatred and bigotry did their best to destroy their love. The film’s title perfectly summarizes the pair’s relationship. Not out to change the world, simply understanding that their love couldn’t be wrong, their struggle is both emotional and inspirational. With so much of the film riding on their shoulders, Negga and Edgerton are terrific on-screen together in low-key but emotion-packed performances. It’s impossible not to root for them and it makes you sad for any world which would try to keep them apart.

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Moonlight

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Moonlight
  • IMDb: link

MoonlightMoonlight follows the story of a single character from childhood to adulthood while struggling to find his place in the world. Told in three acts (with a different actor playing the role, and being referred to by a different name) writer/director Barry Jenkins‘ tale follows Little’s (Alex Hibbert) journey from a shy kid, to a teenage Chiron (Ashton Sanders) struggling to deal with his sexuality (and his schoolmates hatred of him), to a hardened drug dealer (Trevante Rhodes) given an unexpected chance to find something he lost years ago.

All three of the leads work well, although the fact that we are getting used to a different actor also responding to a different name does take some getting used to during the movie’s two big time jumps.

And the supporting cast is strengthen by the likes of Naomie Harris as our protagonist’s abusive mother, Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe as a couple who step in to try and help the boy, and Jharrel Jerome as the teenager responsible for giving Chrion the best and worst moments of his life.

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Christine

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Christine
  • IMDb: link

Christine

Depression is a hard subject matter to tackle. By its very nature it makes any character suffering from the condition standoffish at best or, as is the case here, nearly unrelatable. The subject of director Antonio Campos‘ film is 70s Florida local news reporter Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall). As a character study of a person struggling with depression and paranoia, Christine works well-enough. But as a film it’s difficult to see past the premise as anything other than Oscar-bait. Hall gives a great performance as a woman on the edge, but the sad fact about writer Craig Shilowich‘s script is we are never invested in what dark end is destined for her.

Based on a true story, Shilowich’s script showcases Christine as a hack local newswoman unable to get along with co-workers or family with dreams of the big time Christine, at least on some level, likely understands she will never achieve. Unable to deal with her loneliness, the station manager’s orders for more sensational stories, and a medical problem she refuse to share with anyone, Christine is on the fast track to ruin. What makes her story different is how public her downward spiral became.

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Hacksaw Ridge

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Hacksaw Ridge
  • IMDb: link

Hacksaw RidgeGrabbing a rifle and racing straight into gunfire is certainly an act of bravery. What then is making the same mad dash while refusing to carry a weapon of any kind? The latest film from Mel Gibson is based on the true story of contentious objector Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who enlisted for the Army during World War II to serve his country as a field medic on the battlefield but earned the ire of the Army and his own company by his refusal to even touch a weapon.

Merriam-Webster defines a hero as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” It’s a term that is certainly overused, but it’s also impossible to describe Doss’ journey and his actions on the battlefield without using that word.

While not always a fan of Gibson’s work behind the camera, I will freely admit that the man has an unique understanding of complex emotions on the battlefield. The war scenes of Hacksaw Ridge are as brutal as any you are going to find in a war film which makes the “miracle” that Doss was able to achieve in Okinawa all the more powerful. Because of these sequences, Hacksaw Ridge isn’t a movie I’d recommend to all audiences. It certainly earns its R-rating.

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