After his first film as a director (You Can Count On Me) was a big success, playwright Kenneth Lonergan faced editorial and producer battles with his second, Margaret. It looks like karma is rewarding those struggles as his latest, Manchester By The Sea, is drawing awards chatter, particularly for Casey Affleck's soulful, haunted lead performance. You can watch the trailer below.
Affleck here plays Lee Chandler, who lives a quiet life in Boston, but whose existence is upended when he learns that his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has finally succumbed to congestive heart failure. Unbeknownst to Lee, Joe made him guardian of his son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges).
Now, faced with uprooting himself and possibly moving back to his old hometown to care for his teenage nephew, Lee has to deal with his past demons and wonder whether he'll actually be able to manage as a parent. And Patrick, still dealing with the loss of his dad, is unhappy with the idea that he might have to leave his school friends and girlfriends (plural on that front) behind if Lee decides to take him to Boston instead of staying around...
With Michelle Williams, CJ Wilson, Gretchen Mol and Matthew Broderick also in the cast, Manchester By The Sea will be out in the UK on 13 January.