Best Actor in a Leading Role 2016: Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea

Casey Affleck won the Oscar from his second nomination for his performance as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea.

I've already said multiple times on this blog that I'm not Manchester by the Sea's biggest fan, and unfortunately time has only made its flaws resonate with me more. I don't hate it, but I really can't stand its overbearing, distracting score and its extremely unfocused script. Still, there is one thing that I loved on first viewing and that I still love nowadays: Casey Affleck's leading performance, which is probably the main reason why I do respect the movie to a certain degree. Even in the most' weakest scenes, Affleck delivers an absolutely first-rate performance that manages to be completely captivating and realistic in spite of my feelings about the rest of the movie.

Just like I did with Michelle Williams, I'll review this performance following the scenes' chronological order. In the flashback scenes, I think Casey Affleck is terrific at establishing who Lee is with not that much screen-time: he makes Lee a rather laidback guy that occasionally might get a little annoying by being a bit too loud, noisy and careless, sometimes even temperamental. Affleck is very convincing in those moments as he portrays his character in a very true to life manner and just brings to life so believably both his character's likeable traits and his flaws. He never glosses over Lee's more grating qualities but he manages to rather charming in a low-key fashion, especially in his few scenes with Michelle Williams in which the two of them believably portray Lee and Randi as a fairly loving couple. I also really like his few scenes with Kyle Chandler (who plays his brother): they share very little time together but they make the most out of it by managing to find a tender chemistry full of warmth and understanding. What I particularly like about this early scenes of Affleck's performance is the fact that he feels so full of life and energy which contrasts strikingly with the rest of his cast, making it even more devastating. After tragedy strikes, Affleck is absolutely amazing at portraying his character's intense desperation and guilt, delivering on all fronts in the scene in which he is questioned by the police: I sort of hate the scene itself because I think the score is at its most distracting in it, but Affleck saves it by being so powerful in his portrayal of his character's shock and messy remorse as he explains what happened. It's a scene that could have been played very differently and in a much more overt fashion, but Affleck stays fairly low-key through it and that's why it's so chillingly effective.

In the present scenes, Affleck is absolutely devastating in every second of his performance while keeping his acting extremely minimalistic and subdued. Portraying a character facing such an intense depression can be very tricky, as it's the kind of role that is rather easy to play as dull or one-note: instead, Affleck is downright amazing at conveying the painful history of the character in each look and small gesture - the incredible feat is that he manages to portray a person that does not have any will to live without actually giving a lifeless performance himself. He makes his character's depression a quality that is not at all overbearing but almost a natural, ordinary part of Lee, which is what makes his performance so utterly devastating. It just gets under your skin. Affleck is deeply moving at portraying his character's inability to open up to anyone, even handle a normal conversation: there is a later scene in which the mom of one of Patrick's "girlfriends" tries to strike up a friendship with Lee and he is just unable to engage in small, polite talks - it's just devastating to watch. And the amount of emotions he can convey just with his is astounding: his quiet reaction upon his discovery of his brother's death is just heartbreaking. And he is extremely poignant at subtly portraying how coming back to Manchester brings back so many painful memories to him. 

As the movie progresses, Affleck is fantastic at portraying his relationship with his nephew Patrick. As I mentioned in my review of Hedges' performance, the two actors share a brilliant chemistry showing both the natural affection between Lee and Patrick but also their inability to truly show their mutual pain and to communicate with each other. Their relationship changes in a very subtle fashion and Affleck and Hedges are totally convincing every single step of the way reaching very powerful heights in various scenes such as Patrick's breakdown, in which Affleck does a great job at portraying his character's attempts to be a comforting presence while he's quietly falling apart himself. Affleck is amazing at showing that he will never truly move on from his past but still manages to show how Lee does find some solace in Patrick's company and finally develops a human connection to someone. It's a very quiet development that is made extremely moving by Affleck's phenomenal work.

My favorite scene of his performance though is his casual encounter with Randi: I've already mentioned in my review of Williams' performance that I find this scene to be the movie's highlight and this is thanks to the writing (that in that moment is absolutely on point) and Williams' and Affleck's incredible acting. Williams gets the showier part in this scene and she's absolutely mesmerizing, but Affleck is just as terrific. He is great at portraying Lee's awkwardness as he honestly does not know what to say to her until he too starts to breakdown quietly, unable to say anything: he's just so convincing in his line-delivery as he keeps stuttering in his speech unable to form a coherent thing to say to her as he tries to hold back the tears. The two actors convey so well the history between Randi and Lee extremely well and show very well how their relationship has gone to a point beyond reconciliation. His dejected delivery of "There's nothing there" couldn't be more heartbreaking. And he is also fantastic in his few final scenes with Hedges: he does a brilliant job at showing how Lee is forever going to suffer from his past mistakes but he also suggests the slightest hope in his portrayal, the hope that while he probably will never move on completely he could manage to find a little more happiness in his life. Affleck and Hedges end the film on a beautiful, touching note and I actually applaud the film for its ending as it's neither excessively depressing nor unrealistically and overly optimistic, it's just true to life.

Regardless of my mixed feelings towards the movie itself, this is an amazing performance from Casey Affleck who delivers a performance of incredible subtlety and delicacy. He gives such a compelling, realistic and brutally devastating portrayal of his character's emotional state while beautifully handling his gradual transition. The emotional power of the movie lies in his haunted and haunting eyes. It's a truly fantastic performance and an extremely worthy winner. 

5/5