One more down. Six to go.
Let me say this right from the start. This is a sad film and doesn't get overly happier to compensate for the sadness. And this is actually what I liked about the movie. It felt like real life being played on the big screen with real people and not someone portraying a role. This is a huge credit to the actors in the movie especially Casey Affleck who is tremendous I must say. His performance is so subtle and so energetic even while being so under the radar throughout the movie.
The story involves Lee Chandler (Casey) coping with loss of his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) while also dealing with his tragic personal life problems and also looking after Joe's son, Patrick (another excellent performance from Lucas Hedges). The nature of this film's story might not appeal to everyone but what kept me in it was the virtuous performance of the actors. Casey definitely deserves his Academy Award nomination for this. From what I am reading, he might be the front runner to win as well and I wouldn't mind that. Kenneth Lonergan's direction is good but I must admit it took me a while to get used to the structural flow of the film with it jumping between storylines from past and present. The music went well with the film but was a little too loud for my liking and took my focus away from the actual scene at some points. I also think this might be 15 minutes too long but overall, I liked the movie and I loved the performances.
Rating: 7/10