One of the best treatments of character development in any recent American film - Manchester by the Sea

It's anything but a feel-good movie but the Kenneth Lonergan film Manchester-by-the-Sea is one of the best treatments of character establishment and development in any recent American film. Over the course of the totally gripping 2+ hours we come meet Lee Chandler (Casey Afflek, a lock for an Oscar nomination) and get a real sense of his life at a dead-end as a handyman for a small, low-rent apartment complex in Quincy, Mass., and then we see his life take a start as he learns of the death of his older brother, the more successful (a little) and ebullient Joe (a surprising stretch for Kyle Chandler). Through alternating sequence in present time and in flashback, we learn about failure of the marriages of both brothers, about the tragedy that sent Lee into isolation and misanthropy, and about why he dreads coming back to the posh coastal home town (you will pick up the mood of several New England writers who have described the caste relationships between the wealthy and the working - Eliz Strout, Richard Russo, Anthony Dubus, et al.). To Lee's surprise he's entrusted w/ the responsibility for his teenage nephew, and their touchy, strained relationship and is development over the course of a few months is the heart of the movie - full of surprising twists, a lot of humor much of it dark, and true development and maturation of both characters. There is not a moment of false sentimentality in this movie and not a missed note (well, a few "goofs" - like the snow that mysterious appears and disappears from shot to shot, and the claim to be on the hockey team and the basketball team - really? at the same time?). It's by no means an action-packed movie, the pace is sometimes slow and deliberate (though the film editing is not - a lot of back and forth cuts during slow dialogue, which can be enlivening or distracting, depending on your preference), a beautiful score, and a fine star turn by Michelle Williams as Lee's ex, in a beautiful scene of a strained attempt at reconciliation toward the end. A work of art.