Manchester by the Sea

I like Casey Affleck- I like his face much better than Ben's. I love Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler. I like this story. I like the scenery. I like good stories. But more importantly, I like SHORT stories-not sad stories that run for over 2 hours. It is about 2 scenes or 2o minutes too long.
 There have been a few long movies I've liked- Gone With the Wind is an example. And, if you are going to tell a morose story- a brutally sad one in fact, then the lead actor needs to look and sound more like an interesting person. Casey Affleck is just plain not right for this lead. You lose a lot of empathy while you look at your watch. And what saves this movie?? I'll tell you- it is Michelle Williams. The heartbreak and yearning and love in her face steals the movie in about 2 minutes of your time. It is then that surely you realize the reason this movie feels as if something is off is because they filmed it from the wrong point of view. The true star is Michelle Williams. And then you'd have the real story.