A top beautiful Film

One of the best, if not the best, American movies of recent decades. I watched the extended cut on DVD, just over 3 hours, so I cannot speak for the Theatrical Version.

After watching it last night, I read of the fraught production process. We are lucky it emerged at all, and even luckier that Lonergan stuck to his guns and created a cut that he was satisfied with. With so many big egos involved it could have become a "camel" (an animal designed by a committee).

This is a film crammed with subtleties and layers. There are many speaking parts, and they are all beautifully acted. Even the minor characters like the father's new wife created a rounded character from very few lines.

Lonergan had only directed one previous movie, the acclaimed "You Can Count on Me (2000)". He has done a lot of script work on mediocre movies by other directors, but if the income from that enables him to stand up to the studio suits and insist on final cut rights, then that is OK with me. Better to achieve one excellent movie followed by one masterpiece in sixteen years than a string of "better than average" movies. I look forward to seeing his new film, Manchester by the Sea (2016).