Casey Affleck boosts grief-saturated 'Manchester by the Sea'

One of the first truths you learn in journalism is that everyone has a story; there can be much more to people than meets the eyes.

In Kenneth Lonergan's restrained, grief-saturated character study "Manchester by the Sea," we watch a taciturn Boston apartment building janitor named Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) go through his daily chores cleaning toilets, shoveling snow and throwing trash in a garbage bin.

He responds to a chatty female tenant with blunt rudeness. He dismisses another women's overheard confession she finds him sexy.

At a local bar, the janitor shuts down a promising encounter with an interested female, then starts a fight with two ambushed patrons.

Yet, there is more to this creep than meets the eyes.

Lonergan, marking his third movie since 2000's critically acclaimed "Count on Me" (his "Margaret" came out in 2011), begins to slowly peel back the layers on this human onion in a series of revealing flashbacks.

We discover how much he bonded with his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) and Joe's little son Patrick, especially on frequent fishing trips.

Joe dies of natural causes and he has willed that little Patrick - now a rebellious teenager played by a game Lucas Hedges - be raised by Lee. The thought of this responsibility horrifies him.

Lonergan's story divides into two narratives: seeing how the withdrawn Lee refuses to deal with headstrong Patrick and his emotional needs, and exploring what terrible events have forged Lee's emotional and social clam-like existence.

Michelle Williams plays Randi (Michelle Williams), Lee's ex-wife and mother of his three children. She has apparently moved on with another man in her life.

Gretchen Mol plays Patrick's irresponsible mother Elise. She disappears after Joe's illness, presumably prompting Joe to name Lee as Patrick's guardian.

In the movie's most perplexing sequence, Lonergan introduces us to Elise's new husband Jeffrey (an oddly stiff and mannered Matthew Broderick), Patrick's super-Christian stepfather.

The awkward lunch that Patrick shares with them feels as if it had been part of a much larger canvas with some religious commentary, but here, reduced to a clumsy afterthought.

Lonergan slowly, methodically fills in the blanks on this 1,500-piece dramatic puzzle, relying on his main cast's uniformly top-shelf performances and the plot's devastating revelations to reel us back into the story whenever our interest sputters and wanes in the wake of dark and sometimes repetitive scenes.

Originally, "Manchester by the Sea" producer Matt Damon intended to play Lee, but let the role go to Affleck because of other commitments.

Damon's Lee would have been a stronger, more centered soul, not at all like Affleck's battered and bruised psyche, expressed by the actor's halting speech, uncomfortably rigid body language and nervous avoidance of eye contact.

As the tormented Lee, Affleck renders one of the year's finest performances. The actor finally connects with a character who exemplifies his penchant for brooding men not quite aware of how damaged they are.

Lonergan capitalizes on Affleck's vulnerability in a textured, cliche-free portrait of human survival without a conventional ending.

It simply stops, suggesting these characters will go on with their tangled, conflicted lives as best they can in a story steeped in harsh realism.

“Manchester by the Sea”

★ ★ ★

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Gretchen Mol, Matthew Broderick

Directed by: Kenneth Lonergan

Other: A Roadside Attractions release. Rated R for language, sexual situations. 135 minutes