It's a very gut-wrenching film, and quite a performance from Affleck and Williams.
For me, I like that there wasn't this big cliched emotional breakthough from Casey A., like what we've already seen in so many movies (Matt Damon's Good Will Hunting breakthough w/ Robin Williams comes to mind...."It's not your fault").
It would have been been pretty typical...to have the big, dramatic breakdown....tears and wailing, etc. However, instead of going for big drama, the director went for realism. We all know guys like Lee....stoic, sad and distant. They keep everything bottled-up. They just have a distant solitude about them.
I get it, there's nothing sexy or emotionally riveting about raw realism. However, the drama came from the story itself....and the honesty of the characters. And finally....from the hints of grace, compassion and even hope.
It's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but from what I remember, my 2 favorite scenes are...when Lee runs into his ex (Michelle Williams) on the street, and her heart is just broken as she tries to tell him she doesn't blame him. And....the scene where Lee's nephew is falling apart.....and he sits by his bedside, and tells him...."I'm just going to sit here with you, until I know you're going to be ok."
The honesty in those scenes really got to me. Superb acting and directing.
reply
share
Drooch (5333)
3 years ago
Yeah those were rare moments where the film didn’t run away from the drama to play clever games with jumbled chronology and seeing how unnecessarily understated it could be.
reply
share
Boromir (9719)
3 years ago
Before I start I think it's clear but still Spoiler head.
I think part of the reason for the flashbacks are to leave the viewer in suspense and wondering “what make Casey behave the way he do?"
Tell me if I am wrong but the flashbacks ends after we exposed to the tragedy he went through.
There are two different responses to grief, one more emotional and extrovert and the other stoic and distant as Ripkens25 said. The reason for the differences is the guilt factor, it's make sense from Lee point to view to act that way. It took a while but he finally gave sparrow to his feelings and opening up.
He made a big progress from the beginning of the film to its conclusion. We see him finally 'disintegrates' and bursts into tears. He admit in presence of Patrick that the grief for his child and the trauma too hard and he can't take a responsible for him without suffer persistent anxiety. In the end, maybe he's not adopt Patrick but he didn't break the promise to be there for him. When we ask ourselves if this's a happy ending or sad, we can't forget the historical context of Lee, he lost 3 child at fire that he start, you can't overcome something like this, most people will punish themselves all their life. This's why I think it's happy ending in relation to the tragic situation in which the characters operate.
reply
share