Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Manchester by the Sea plumbs the depths of human grief and sadness. It’s a tough film to watch, yet it’s honest. The movie’s characters are flawed, but real. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns that they must deal with. Grace is at work in the movie. But, as with life, grace works gradually, over time, offering hope.

As the movie opens, Lee (Casey Affleck) works as a custodian in a Boston apartment building, dealing with tenants, shoveling snow, and living alone in a one-room apartment. Through flashbacks, we learn that Lee was once married to Randi (Michelle Williams), with three children. Life seemed happy then. Now in his small apartment, Lee is stoic and sad. He walks with shoulders slumped, looking down. Lee is the kind of guy who goes to bars, drinks too much, and gets into fights.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Loving tells the true story of Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred (Ruth Negga) Loving. When the movie opens in 1959, Mildred tells Richard she is pregnant. Knowing that it was illegal for two people of different races to marry in their home state of Virginia, Richard and Mildred drive to Washington, D.C., to marry. After their marriage, they return to live in Virginia. They are soon arrested and jailed for breaking the law. A judge tells them that they can either leave the state or face a long prison sentence if they remain in Virginia.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

On the disastrous day of April 20, 2010, on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana, an explosion claimed the lives of eleven men, and prompted an oil spill which caused the worst environmental crisis in US history.  With the exception of the epilogue, the new movie Deepwater Horizon takes place on that one day.
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