Manchester by the Sea : "THE Lee Chandler"

This was said twice. I forget who said it first, but the hockey coach said it, and then two of the players said, "Yeah, but that story is *beep*" So what is the story? Clearly it can't be about the fire, because that's not *beep*.

So I wonder if this story, whatever it is, is why Lee says he "can't beat it" to his ex-wife?


(Also, since when does IMDB replace profanity with "*beep*"?)

It is exactly about the fire. In a town like that the father that started a fire that killed his children would certainly become the subject of some rumors. It seems that some may think that it was murder. He even had a hard time finding temporary work because of it.


He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

So you're saying that when the players said "That story is BS," they're referring to the fire, but to some enhancement of the facts.

He's probably known around town as the guy who got so wasted, he burned down his house - killing his children.

Maybe the young hockey players don't believe all the facts about how responsible he was for it.

Why wouldn't you believe it was in reference to the fire?




Also, he says "I can't beat it" to his nephew, not his wife.

It's not that I don't believe it; it's just open to interpretation.

Regarding "I can't beat it": you are correct. Nonetheless, "it" must be whatever rumors are floating around.

I think the "i can't beat it" comment was referring to the whole reality of him living in the town and being constantly reminded of who he is and what he did. The comment was elicited after his encounter with randy. I dont think it was the rumors i think it was his own thoughts that came up living in that town

I don't think the "THE Lee Chandler" is open to any interpretation at all. lt's clearly about the fire but because it occurs before the audience has any idea about Lee's past the audience as yet doesn't know to what it refers. It's the first hint - though it's more than a hint, it's telling you outright Lee was involved in something really major and you can feel pretty confident you're going to find out what.
As to the "I can't beat it," it's about his own guilt that won't let him stay in the town where it happened and the town's reaction to him being back and not offering any absolution, Catholic or otherwise.
The "that's BS" line is the one thing open to interpretation.

I think the "I can't beat it scene" is just talking about his personal demons. He never really has truly faced them therefore he is not able to beat them. As far as the "The Lee Chandler" scene at the hockey practice originally I thought maybe he was a star athlete from back in the day but I agree people were probably just talking about " the man who killed his whole family" As far as how the town views Lee I think people probably just think of him as a drunk who fights people at bars. I have a feeling he was probably like that to an extent before the "accident" even happened. Also as horrible as the fire was I think people would forgive him if it wasn't for the other things that caused Lee to have a bad rep around town

That's what I thought the first time I heard it. It's STILL that - the personal demons - but the statement is ambiguous. He doesn't say "I can't beat my demons" so a lot of things can be added. Lonergan is a careful writer.

He means his alcoholism, He breaks down after he gets drunk and almost burns his brothers house down. He believes he's not good enough to take care of his nephew because he can't even stop drinking.

It's the guilt that he can't beat - and the forgiveness that he can't give himself.

EDIT: I should have read your reply first, jlent. Sorry.

I suspect the BS part may mean that it's BS that he did it intentionally but as you say in this thread it's open to interpretation.

The rumors could be anything, the worst being he did it on purpose.

In the scene when Lee comes home from fishing with Joe and Patrick, he mentions, jokingly, how he should never have married his wife and then he wouldn't have kids and could watch the game in his living room. One could see this being used against him after the fire to insinuate that he did it intentionally.

I like that the film didn't make that leap for us, but left us to think about it.

And this must be what his wife was referring to when she said that she had said things about him that she should burn in hell for.

The implication was that, in her rage and grief, she told everybody in town about that moment in their bedroom and what he had said, jokingly, about his life and his children.

And who knows, perhaps far, far worse things. It's left completely up to your imagination. What you DO know is, whatever things she did say, she's completely convinced that she's going to burn in hell for saying them.

Think about that for a second.

imo the "i can't beat it" is an explanation for why he has to move to boston. therefore, it must refer not just to his personal demons but also to how manchester makes things worse: he can't get a job there, people stare at him in bars (and sometimes maybe he thinks they are staring when they're not) and worsen his already bad temper, and seeing randi reminds him of his kids.

They say THE Lee chandler twice, I thought well the heck did he do. Then we learn what he did, I also found the co start use of flashbacks rather annoying.

It wasn't just the fire itself. It was the circumstances of the fire - he was so wasted (he had been drinking and may have been using cocaine earlier in the evening), so that he couldn't drive to the bottle shop - he had to walk 20 minutes each way, so was gone over 45 minutes; things may have turned out completely differently if he hadn't been wasted, and was able to drive to and from the bottle shop.

Wow I mean really wow. You did not get this movie at all.

It's not open to interpretation at all. They call him that because the town talks quite a bit about the guy who got so drunk and high that he burned his house down and killed his 3 kids. Add to that the fact his wife admitted she was very cruel to him afterwards, so who knows the crap she could've talked. So I'm guessing alot of that talk is exaggerated, as most rumors and gossip are. People clearly judge him for what he's done (the woman who didn't want him back to apply for a job). The hockey kids say it's BS, because they're friends with his nephew and understands that it was just an accident.

EXAMPLE. "That's THE Lee Chandler, the guy who got so drunk and high that he burned his house down and killed his kids then tried to kill himself in the police station?"

Lee says he can't beat it, because he can't beat the terrible emotional feelings, the pain and guilt and depression he feels being back in Manchester.(He can barely make it in Boston). He can't beat "the demon" inside of him, even to stay with his nephew and be his guardian. It's open and shut, not open to interpretation.

I don't mean to be an A-hole, but wow man. Were you watching? YOU DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE HE SAID "I can't beat it" TO HIS NEPHEW, NOT HIS WIFE.

I think you're the opposite of paranoid, I think you walk around with the delusion people like you.

Settle down, Beavis.

I hardly think forgetting to whom he said a particular line translates to "not getting this movie." You found it clear; I didn't. Neither of us is "right," because it's a matter of opinion.

Why do you think this is like a David Lynch movie? It isn't open to interpretation, it isn't a matter of opinion. It is open and shut, And yes, I am right. I found it clear, because IT IS CLEAR.

I said you didn't get the movie, because you think it's open to interpretation and a matter of opinion, so CLEARLY, you didn't get the movie. You didn't understand why they called him THE Lee Chandler and said it had nothing to do with the fire. so YOU CLEARLY DO NOT GET THE MOVIE AT ALL

Again, NOT OPEN TO INTERPRETATION, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION. It's what the movie was about and you didn't understand it at all if you think it's a matter of opinion.

I think you're the opposite of paranoid, I think you walk around with the delusion people like you.

OK, I'm not going to argue with you. Clearly you're a genius, and the rest of us should quake in the presence of your intellect and perspicacity.

Well thanks for thinking so highly of me. And you shouldn't quake in my presence, you should just pay attention while watching a movie and not think that every movie is open to interpretation.

I think you're the opposite of paranoid, I think you walk around with the delusion people like you.

I think the that story is BS probably refers to the idea he tried grabbed a gun in the police station and tried to kill himself which would become a thing of legend in a small town.

First, like the fire captain says, people leave their fireplace screens off all the time, so that itself was not the source of the 'stories' circulating around him, nor was that he got a bit inebriated at the time. Seems like nobody in that town would have have exiled him for that. Especially when you consider the woman who says she doesn't want him back at the boatyard. Something unrelated to the actual fire must have prompted her with such bitter feelings.

Second, We are not told everyhting that happened to Lee after the incident in the police station. I think it's almost certain he spent some time institutionalized and getting into random, inexplicable fights in Manchester when he wasn't. At that point, all kinds of stories may have circulated about him. Acting out violently and irrationally toward people would certainly get him blackballed.

I almost felt like he used to be a high school hockey legend or something. Because when he has to go find his nephew he asks something like "He plays hockey?" Like in the middle of everything, not catching up on his nephew all this time, the hockey thing stood out for him.

Just a guess.


I took the subway to Wayne Station and Batwalked up the road.

It refers to both the fire, the ruckus that he caused at the Police Dept when he snatched a gun and tried to kill himself; and then the broken man that he was afterwards.

"I should burn in hell for what I did to you.the things I said"

I figured it was bad enough what really happened ..but like the police said itwas an accident. I figure between reality and perhaps his wife telling the story to make her appear sympatheticmaybe even that he was an abusive husband (out of guilt over how much she drank and neglected the kids)

They meant the rumor that he did it on purpose.