Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Horrendous family tragedy can turn a normal dude into a wittless and humorless jerk, especially when one has a reason for feeling guilty. He might have been one already, but that is unclear. He is taking the manly route to processing his pain by picking fights with innocent strangers in bars, “Were you looking at me?”
He’s the kind of guy one probably wouldn’t want to hang out with for two hours and 17 minutes, the time required to sit through this movie. Fortunately I was at home and hadn’t invested an evening, transportation, and money for a theater showing.
This could be a depressing movie to watch if one takes it as seriously as it’s leaden tone and dismal classical score implies. I didn’t get the classical score at all. This is supposed to be working class New Hampshire, so i don’t think that fit or helped.
As for Casey Affleck’s  Oscar winning performance, it had that one dull tone, no dynamics at all, not that the role offered them so I don’t see it as particularly special.