Based on 244 votes and 95 reviews
Movie needed an Editor to reduce the very overly long time spent on same came angle/shot. Could have been a "good" (not ever a great) One hour and fifty minute movie. Nice picture postcard scenery shots of Northeastern Massachusetts - which - you guessed it - remained on the screen way too long. I would never recommend this movie. Casey Affleck's performance was one dimensional, one speed, one note, for the entire film. Which was on target and appropriate for his character "Lee" - but b-or-i-n-g.
Depression , depression, depression.
So BORING. Affleck didn't have to do much. He wore the same brooding expression pretty much the entire 2.5 hours. UGHH.
BORING!!!!
Great movie script and outstanding acting. Absolutely not a movie for average viewers.
Yaaaaaaawn.
Acting was superb. The full impact of the film wasn't felt until later. And the ending, which seems abrupt, echoes the opening. All in all a good film.
I forgot to add in my review of the movie.....way, way, way too many curse words.....Can a story not be told without the F. word....??????????????
With all the hype....movie was a little hard to follow figuring out who was who....Michelle Williams had a very small role....which was a bit disappointing.....also the movie ended too abruptly...everyone left wondering if the real ending was beyond the Credits.....
Saw the Oscars, wanted to like this movie but couldnt. The acting was great and personalities played in the movie were intriguing. The viewer was lead through a rather long winded uncovering of a dark secret and the effect it had on those persons portrayed. The major problem was the movie never ended. It was like sitting in starbucks emmersed in the conversation at the table next you, you get engrossed and then you take a sip of coffee and bang they get up a leave. . Leaves the movie goer wanting more but the spectacular or heartwarming ending never comes. So disappointing a movie without an ending. Maybe thats what the director wanted but audiences didnt. Waste of my time!
The movie is long and boring with an ending that leads nowhere. I could not relate to the main character probably because of his lack of emotion throughout the whole movie. They could have done some much better with somebody who can actually portray an inner pain. I have no idea how Casey Affleck got an Oscar for this role.
I rented it immediately after watching the Oscars and found the acting to be very good, particularly Michelle Williams. I am a fan of slow moving dramas and foreign films, but this film was so lethargic and repetitive. Very disappointed.
A shining diamond among the rocks Hollywood is producing
Great movie that is not for the average viewer. Well written script, with humanity and our mortality as a central theme. Looking forward to more from Casey Affleck
This was a real painful movie to watch. Way too long and hardly interesting. How does a movie like this get made? It is totally over-rated and most likely because Matt Damon is pushing it. Don't waste your time and money.
Excellent movie. Stays with you after you see it. So sad. Well acted. Paced perfectly. One of the best movies I have seen in a while. Gut wrenching but well done.
A real loser, they must really love the F word. Big disappointment.
Very disappointed. ...Over rated....too long...best part was the background music.....
Long boring movie, a great disappointment. ...
raw emotion ..and true to life for many people.the acting was so good...If you want a feel good movie this one may not be for you ..I really really like it.
Excellent movie and acting. It really brings you into the mind of a tortured soul and his fight to go on with his life. 5 stars
This Movie started off slow and got nothing but slower. I will never get the two hours of my life back. Save your money unless you enjoy depressing movies. Watch the news it is more up beat and it will save you the price of admission.
I thought the movie showed the raw feelings of tragedy and how people cope with something so cataclysmic... if you want fairy tales or action this may bore you , the acting was the emotional realism of events. I would have preferred a more progressive life changing ending, some happiness to show life does heal if you allow it but this actor certainly will take his sadness to the grave , I found that to be depressing and unsatisfying but that's is life for some people ... and it's a movie..was bit slow... not a sleeper for me.
Love this movie! Excellent acting, a real-life feel, chilling story. One that you leave but keep in your head for days.
I like it a lot, chaacters were difficult but ultimately sympathetic, portray of fishing as a career, and of life in a coastal Massachusetts small town was pretty accurate. (Though that town is now becoming an upscale and expensive place to live!)
This movie is a big waste of time, money and brain cells. I wish I could ask for a refund
This was the worst movie I've seen since Pulp Fiction. All you had to do in this movie look sad and say the "F" word. I wish Hollywood would realize most families deal with disaster with OUT using the"F" word. We use humor, love and memories to deal with hurtful times. This was a trash movie. Terrible...Horrible....
Best movie of the year
Excellent... If you want to see a lot of action, this might not fit your needs. But if you want to see a movie that stirs a lot of feelings, this movie will fill the bill, and then some... I enjoyed it a lot.
Very poor movie, boring and dragged on and on to nowhere. Save your money and time.......stay home!!!!
So slowwwwwwww omg I streamed it and feels like I lost those 2+ hours forever for nothing
This one is a sleeper that begs to be seen again. Casey Affleck carries the show!
Could hVe been a pretty good movie, but......it dragged terribly, the background music was weird and annoying, there was too much swearing, and Casey Affleck maintained the same flat affect in all parts of the movie (even during flashbacks to happier times). Unfortunately his acting style is much like his brother's.
This was my favorite 2016 movie (and I watched many). Casey Affleck did amazing job.
Maybe this film was awesome; I took a nap - but that's only because at some point it was a snoozefest. Affleck and Williams were intense performers. There are two tragedies going on - but the less serious one eclipses the more critical one. Ergo, 3 stars. You never get enough about the most critical tragedy. One might argue 'It's the New England, repressive culture' but I'm remembering (Mary Tyler Moore) "Ordinary People" attained all those dynamics. Maybe a 2nd time I'd love it. Not my favorite script. Great actors.
If you like long relationship movies and a realistic view of stark, cold New England culture this movie is for you. Personally it didn't interest me. I dozed off several times. I look for a movie to transport me somewhere else. Not remind me of how dull and painful real life can be. Casey Afflect's wincing style is ok for short periods but not 2hrs. Nevertheless well written and produced. Just not my taste in movies.
It's rare to come across a film where the dialogue is so true to life that you forget you're watching a movie. This is exactly what happens in Manchester by the Sea. The dialogue mimics the rhythms of normal every day conversation - people don't always finish their sentences or complete their thoughts, people talk over one another and people are rarely as eloquent as popular cinema would have you believe. All of this is perfectly captured in Kenneth Lonergan's masterful screenplay. The astounding realism of the script would be enough of a reason to go out and see this movie, but it is really the phenomenal performances that push this one over the edge. Casey Affleck is at his best playing a reclusive, emotionally-void shell of a man. When the film reveals the reason for his numbness and pain in a beautiful sequence it is absolutely astonishing and heartbreaking. Lucas Hedges is the perfect foil to Affleck's somber lead, as a relentlessly youthful and energetic and, refreshingly normal, teenager. Michelle Williams isn't on screen for very long but when she is she is as magnetic and powerful as usual in a few key scenes. Kenneth Lonergan has managed to craft an emotional powerhouse of a film that mirrors the ebbs and flows of life - from the mundane, to the tragic to the laugh out loud funny. This one will stay with you for a long time after leaving the theater.
Too slow and boring, couldn't wait for it to end. Totally disappointed, not what I expected! This movie was too depressing.
The success in conveying honest, powerful emotions. A very powerful film.
dud.....and I mean a dudddd
Not often that Hollywood serves up an impression of male parenting/friendship that rings true. This one does.
It's great if you want to be depressed.
It was a true movie with nothing sugarcoated. Some didn't care for it because the characters didn't do just what they wanted rather the characters were true to the way they really were.
Tragically beautiful; stunning acting, deep and moving plot. Not for short of attention span viewers.
Absolutely worth every minute spent watching it.
long and boring
Tragic and depressing, well acted but certain to tigger your PTSD!
Not much to dislike. Great movie.
Too long, very boring, tedious to watch. Michelle Williams was good for the two or three scenes she was in.
Such a tragedy. So sad. Casey Affleck plays a man so stuck in his pain and sorrow. He doesn't say much but a great actor that shows his pain in silence and body language. Makes me sound so artsy but you could read on his posture and n the quiet. Amazing