Lonergan. Kenneth Lonergan is a New Yorker who came up as a screenwriter and playwright. He’s made three films from 2000-2020, all three very solidly in the archives. The films are known for their supreme writing and acting. His films are flawless, but not overflowing with cinematic style or ambition. Like Bennett Miller just a few slots before him here- it seems very unlikely Lonergan ever makes a bad film or a masterpiece. He seems dead set on taking his time to make sure he gets it done his way— Kenneth Lonergan films—and the lengthy Orson Welles-like battle he had with the studios over final cut of Margaret has become part of the narrative now both for his career and for Margaret as a film.

intimate stories of families dealing with trauma– his 2000 debut here- You Can Count on Me
Best film: Manchester by the Sea
- Kenneth Lonergan cements himself as one of the great screenwriters of the 21st century
- An achievement for Casey Affleck in his Oscar-winning role (his “I can’t beat it” is devastating). With the flashback structure it’s sort of like the creation of an emotional monster in reverse.
- He’s at his wits end—antisocial, fight in bar (a call back later)
- Shoveling in winter- this is a winter story and the thawing of the ground for the Kyle Chandler’s character body, the use of the boat with warmer weather at the end and the hint of a smile on Affleck is significant
- It’s not just great writing in the big moments (the meeting on the street with Michelle Williams, the police station) and the dialogue—but also in the formal repetition (though not much here visually) and call-backs. Extremely economic without feeling predictable or constricted. We have Lucas Hedges’ character losing it with his freezer, the focus on Affleck’s apartment (a self-made prison cell but says he’s looking for one with an extra room at the end) as furniture as a sign of his growth
- Like Margaret we have the operatic classic score here
- Lonergan is a master of the family drama- You Can Count on Me, Margaret, Manchester – an impressive oeuvre – raw, realism— it’s not like the other gifted 21st century screenwriters like The Coen brothers, Aaron Sorkin, O. Russell, Charlie Kaufman, Tarantino
- The supporting work around Casey is incredible—Michelle Williams, Gretchen Mol in a key scene- Lucas Hedges is a revelation—nom for him, Williams—wins for Casey and Lonergan for writing
- It’s combative but authentic—no bow on the ending. It’s funny at moments and there’s a clear performance chemistry between Hedges and Affleck
- The gut-punch flashback scene— my god—tragedy. The acting in the police station is a tour-de-force from Affleck
- The town is very much a part of the film- reoccurring shots of the sea— it’s not just going from living room to living room for the 137 minute running time

The town is very much a part of the film- reoccurring shots of the sea— it’s not just going from living room to living room for the 137 minute running time– set up during the credits- but serves as powerful formal interludes as well
- Slow-motion during funeral
- Two of the best actors of their generation- Affleck and Williams- the heavyweight meeting on the screen—just exceptional work

Two of the best actors of their generation- Affleck and Williams- the heavyweight meeting on the screen—just exceptional work
total archiveable films: 3
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 0
top 100 films of the decade: 0
most overrated: Lonergan’s are doing very well on the TSPDT consensus list. Margaret is on the cusp of making the top 1000 (it sits at #1039) and is #6 of 2011. That’s higher than where it should be for 2011. Manchester By the Sea is doing even better- it is #4 of 2016. I think it is superb, but it should be a few slots lower. So it is somewhat splitting hairs—but both are a little overrated. You Can Count on Me is just about in the right— the TSPDT has it at #19 of the year 2000.
most underrated : Lonergan does not have an underrated film—all three are slightly overrated, nothing egregious, or just right.
gem I want to spotlight : Margaret
- Another feat for Lonergan—magnificent characterizations, supreme acting, accomplished writing—literate and metropolitan
- Supposed to come out in 2007 but lawsuits and studio/auteur battles over the length and control of the film
- No character in the film with the title name—refers to Gerald Manley Hopkins poem read during the film by Paquin in a classroom scene
- Starts with some beautiful grandiose slow-motion shots of New Yorkers on the street
- It’s a family drama, a character study (these are real people, flawed, inconsistent but in a good way- depth), but it also acts as group grieving and post 9-11 trauma
- Paquin is a tour-de-force here- volcanic one minute, selfish the next, —she’s also very well cast as a New Yorker after 25th Hour and The Squid and the Whale
- Novelistic—pain, morality
- Shouting matches—jousts—very East coast and angry
- Formally it starts out so ambitiously—we have the slow-motion interludes and the establishing shots of New York but these drop off… we bounce, formally, off the family drama to heated classroom debates about politics—people cutting each other off—Lonergan uses duration as part of the discomfort. I can see why he needed to fight for this film to be longer
- Her unprotected sex and possible pregnancy adds to the milieu—so messy—she wants to get rid of her guilt
- A true coming of age—the system is flawed—a look at why we’re all a little edgy and jaded.
- A great line—“this is not an opera”- but it is—it is to Lisa (Paquin) and all of us.
- The ending is magnificent. The crying at the MET—art as catharsis

from Margaret – another feat for Lonergan—magnificent characterizations, top-notch acting, accomplished writing—literate and metropolitan
stylistic innovations/traits:
- Character driven dramas
- Operatic classical scores
- The formal interludes (establishing shots in You Can Count and Manchester and the classroom debates in Margaret) –between the intelligent dialogue exchanges. he’s a stronger formal filmmaker than visual stylist
- Intimate stories of families dealing with trauma—but in a literary linear way in comparison with Lynne Ramsay’s impressionism
- Setting is important—NYC in Margaret, Manchester of course in Manchester by the Sea
- Impeccable screenplays and acting

Impeccable screenplays and acting
top 10
- Manchester by the Sea
- Margaret
- You Can Count on Me
By year and grades
2000- You Can Count on Me | R |
2011- Margaret | HR |
2016- Manchester By the Sea | HR |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
And that brings an end to the top 250 directors.
@Drake , I just want to say that this top 250 list is absolutely brilliant. I learnt about so many new directors like Tom tykwer etc. Great job on the list.
@Azman— appreciate it- thank you for the kind words
Your work can’t be praised enough, this is truly special @Drake. I would love it if you made a page wherein you list the directors in their ranking order and fix the ‘load more’ posts button, if it isn’t asking too much. Out of curiosity, are you now going to update the annual archives or write something else?
Okay, I haven’t thanked him either,
i appreciate your enormous work, i would not have been able to meet many important directors without your list, thanks again.
Haha I thought I was the only one who happened to the button when trying to load publications
@Aldo— my pleasure- thank you very much– appreciate you saying that.
@JC- thanks for comment here- much appreciated. I’ll be putting together a composite page for the 250 directors, in order, and if I’m feeling ambitious- maybe even include some hyperlinks.
Haha, look forward to that.
This is great and now for your next list I think you should make a greatest male and female acting performances of all time ranking, not actors, I know you already did that, but performances.
drake i’m not sure this guy should be on the list. i mean i enjoyed manchester quite a bit, but it was an acting and dialogue movie. there were some good visuals, but i feel like it could have been a tv show and it would have done about the same. over visual directors like ken russell? i guess what keeps coming to mind is alfred hitchcock, how he said a lot of movies are not cinematic, but are just photos of people talking. stuff like this and david o russell come to mind, i suppose. how do you feel about hitchcock’s quote
@ m – that’s a fair comment I think for the most part. I haven’t seen enough of Ken Russell’s work to adequately consider him. With another viewing of a key film or two I could elevate Ken Russell. I love that Hitchcock quote and wholeheartedly agree– Matt Harris shared it a week or so ago on the site. I think you may be a little off in your characterization of the work of Lonergan and David O. Russell– but your point is well taken.
hi drake great work would love a list of some of the great acting performance of all time
@ahmad– thanks for visiting the site and the comment. Yeah- I thought about doing that- tough to do- but it would be a fun exercise.
I love his films. Why doesn’t make one every 10 minutes???? Authentic, deep characters and situations; high mood, absolutely philosofical in a humble and, again, authentic style.
He’s the movies’ Richard Strauss, and his Electras are deeply moving but, of course, not for everyone: it takes both brain and heart to enjoy them.
He’s Scorpio like myself, born just 20 days ahead of me, 1962.
Again. Kenneth: why don’t you present a movie every 10 minutes???
Warm salutes from a spaniard living in Romania.