Manchester By The Sea

Although it is nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, it is the worst movie I have seen in my life.

To label this movie as "Black Drama" would not give it justice. This movie is simply the most depressing movie ever made.....bar none.

Here is the basic plot.................

Lee Chandler, a quiet and reserved handyman in Quincy, Massachusetts, receives word that his brother Joe has had a heart attack. Arriving at the hospital too late, Lee is emotionally distant from the entire situation. Lee goes to his hometown of Manchester-by-the-Sea to break the news to Joe's son, Patrick. Staying in Joe's home while arranging Joe's funeral, he is shocked to learn that Joe named him as Patrick's guardian. Reluctant to commit to the guardianship but opposed to giving Patrick to Elise, Patrick's alcoholic mother, Lee makes plans for Patrick to move back to Boston with him despite Patrick being rooted into the Manchester community. Lee does not want to move back to Manchester, as he is tormented by memories of a house fire, caused by his negligence while intoxicated, that resulted in the deaths of his three young children. With no criminal charges filed against him but his wife Randi blaming him for the fire, Lee had attempted suicide by pulling a gun from a police officer's holster when he was being interviewed about the fire. When his suicide attempt failed, he moved to Boston.

Joe's body needs to be kept in storage until spring when the ground thaws, because he is being buried in an historical cemetery, where heavy equipment is not allowed. Lee remains in Manchester until the delayed funeral. Over time, Patrick and Lee rekindle their relationship despite Lee's emotional unavailability, but Lee comes through when Patrick has a panic attack whilst rifling through the freezer, as he has been constantly bothered by the thought of his father on ice for several months. Conflict continues to arise when Lee refuses to make small talk with the mother of Patrick's girlfriend, Sandy, so that Patrick and Sandy can have sex. Patrick thinks Lee is trying to distance himself from him, especially because Lee is doing all he can to finish things up so he can leave Manchester.

Patrick's mother Elise then offers to allow Patrick to move in with her, having found religion and sobriety with her new Christian fiancé, Jeffrey. Patrick has an extremely awkward meal with them, during which he is uncomfortably unable to connect with Elise. Elise's hurried departure from the room is followed by the sound of bottles and glass, to Jeffrey's concern. Patrick is later unsettled when his mother's controlling fiancé emails insisting on being an intermediary in the future, saying that it is best for her. Meanwhile, Lee runs into a remarried Randi and her newborn baby, who expresses great remorse for her treatment of him during the divorce and asks to reconnect. A distraught Lee cannot find the words to explain to her and leaves before he can become emotional, parting with the phrase: "There's nothing there." She sobs as he walks away. Lee expresses his rage by picking a fight with strangers at a bar, only to be rescued by family friend George.

Lee arranges for family friend, George and his wife, to act as legal guardians for Patrick. When an emotional Patrick asks why Lee staying isn't an option, Lee admits that he cannot bear living in Manchester. During a walk after Joe's funeral, Lee tells Patrick that he is searching for a new residence with an extra room, so that Patrick can visit whenever he would like, and stay there if he goes to college in Boston. Patrick says that he has no intention of going to college. The final scene is on Joe's boat with Patrick fishing as ethereal music plays.

OK, enough is enough.  The main character, Lee is a semi-cationic psychopath who cannot have any kind of relationship (even a casual one) with anybody.  He gets drunk every night and on one particular evening, starts a fire in his own house and burns all three of his children alive.......this is when my wife bailed on the movie.  It goes on and on and on about crazy people trying to communicate with each other and failing miserably.............even Frued would have a hard time watching this one.

What the hell is wrong with the Motion Picture Academy to nominate a movie like this?

AVOID THIS MOVIE LIKE THE PLAGUE.