We’ve already shared a video of theManchester by the Seacastanswering your Collider Mailbag questions, but now it’s time to put the focus on the actual making of the movie, and specifically aboutCasey Affleck,Lucas HedgesandMichelle Williams' experience working with writer-directorKenneth Lonergan.
An acclaimed filmmaker and playwright,Manchester by the Seamarks Lonergan’s third feature film serving as the director following 2000’sYou Can Count on Meand the 2011 release,Margaret. He’s also scored two Oscar nominations, one for theYou Can Count on Mescript and the other for writingGangs of New YorkwithJay CocksandSteven Zaillian. We’ve still got a little more than a month’s worth of 2016 releases to go, but it’s looking likely thatManchester by the Seacould add even more accolades to Lonergan’s growing collection.
you may catch Affleck, Hedges and Williams talking about working with Lonergan in the video interview at the top of this article, and if you’d like to do a little more reading onManchester by the Sea,click herefor Adam’s glowing review andherefor Adam’s Oscar Beat on the Best Picture race.
Here’s the official synopsis forManchester by the Sea:
InManchesterbytheSea,thelatest film from award-winning writer and director Kenneth Lonergan,thelife of a solitary Boston janitor is transformed when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew.Thestory oftheChandlers, a working-class family living in a Massachusetts fishing village for generations,ManchesterbytheSeais a deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny exploration ofthepower of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope.
Afterthedeath of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked to learn that Joe has made him sole guardian of his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Taking leave of his job, Lee reluctantly returns toManchester-by-the-Seato care for Patrick, a spirited 16-year-old, and is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife Randi (Michelle Williams) andthecommunity where he was born and raised. Bondedbytheman who held their family together, Lee and Patrick struggle to adjust to a world without him.
