It's the French poster but I don't care. It doesn't make a difference.Remember last year when people couldn't shut up about this movie? How they praised Casey Affleck for his moving performance? He won a goddamn Oscar for it. It was nominated for six, including Best Picture, and won a second one for Best Original Screenplay.
And it's not good.
It might as well have been named "White Men Not Dealing with Their Feelings" because that's all that happens in it.
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) drops everything to rush back to his hometown after his brother (Kyle Chandler) succumbs to congestive heart disease. This brings back a host of bad memories that Lee has never confronted on top of the current situation of having to care for his teenage nephew (Lucas Hedges), a mouthy brat and aspiring hockey goon.
Watching the older generation of toxic masculinity mentor the younger, slightly more well-adjusted generation is about as heartening as you'd imagine. And before somebody chimes in with the "everyone grieves differently" adage, ten years of dead-end jobs and bar fights does not count as grieving. Lee does the absolute bare minimum for his nephew because he's terrified of his personal demons. Instead of using it as an opportunity for healing old wounds, he runs. A+ parenting right there.
And let's not pretend that this is brave, new ground for Affleck as an actor either. It's essentially the same character he has played in Gone Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse James except even less nuanced.
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