Happy 58th Birthday, Kenneth Lonergan! Born today in 1962, this American playwright, screenwriter, and film director is known for his insightful character studies and unique ability to draw real drama out of the outwardly mundane.
Lonergan had studied at New York University's Tish School of Arts, where he eventually earned an M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing.
In the late 1990s, Lonergan attracted significant early attention as a member of New York's Naked Angels theater company. This was with his acerbic and insightful off-Broadway play 'This is Our Youth' in 1996.
Three years later, Lonergan earned his first screen credit as a co-writer on the 1999 American mafia comedy/crime film 'Analyze This', starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. The other co-writer was Harold Ramis ('Groundhog Day'), of whom also directed.
The following year, Lonergan took on a purely mercenary writing assignment. This was for the 2000 American comedy/family film 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle', loosely based on the television cartoon of the same name,
Later that same year, Lonergan displayed his true passion and understated talent by writing and directing the low-key, but impactful 2000 American drama/independent film 'You Can Count on Me".
The film co-starred his wife, American film and television actress J. Smith-Cameron as Mabel, while Lonergan appeared as Ron. Lonergan and Cameron were married that same year.
'You Can Count on Me' and its performances received highly positive reviews among critics, and dozens of award nominations and awards at film festivals.
The film went on to earn widespread acclaim and helped launch the film career of longtime Lonergan friend and collaborator, Mark Ruffalo.
During awards season, 'You Can Count on Me' received two Oscar nominations, including one for Best Screenplay. However, it didn't win. This occurred at the 73rd Academy Awards in late March 2001.
One year later, Lonergan co-wrote Martin Scorsese's epic 2002 American period crime/drama film 'Gangs of New York'. Upon release, the film solidified the consensus that Lonergan was indeed an artist to watch.
One year later, 'Gangs of New York' was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Writing (Original Screenplay). However, the film did not any of these. This occurred at the 75th Academy Awards in late March 2003.
After the ceremony, nothing was heard from Lonergan. This was until his sophomore feature effort - shot in 2005 - epic 2011 American drama film 'Margaret'. It had finally been given a limited release six years later.
The film was repeatedly delayed while Lonergan struggled to create a final cut he was satisfied with, resulting in multiple lawsuits. This was due to a bitter dispute between Lonergan and Fox Searchlight Pictures the film's three-hour running time.
While the studio insisted the film's running time could not exceed one hundred-and-fifty minutes, Lonergan's preferred version was closer to three hours.
Scorsese and American film editor Thelma Schoonmaker contributed to editing a one hundred-and-sixty-five-minute version that Lonergan approved; the cut was never released because the producer Gary Gilbert refused to approve the cut.
Eventually, Fox Searchlight Pictures released the one hundred-and-fifty-minute film in a limited release in the United States on September 30, 2011. This was to moderately positive reviews from critics.
In 'Margaret', Lonergan appears as Karl. Smith-Cameron co-stars as Joan Cohen, the mother of seventeen-year-old Manhattan student Lisa Cohen (Anna Paquin), of whom witnesses a freak accident when a bus driver hits a pedestrian.
Some considered it overlong, but it was praised for its acting and later appeared in several publications' lists of the year's best films.
In 2014, the litigation against 'Margaret' had ended. Afterwards, any bad feeling from that experience were likely swept away by the reception afforded Lonergan's next film two years later.
This was also the film for which he is known for writing and directing, being the 2016 American drama film 'Manchester by the Sea'.
After the death of his older brother Joe, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked that Joe has made him sole guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges).
Taking leave of his job as a janitor in Boston, Lee reluctantly returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea, the fishing village where his working-class family has lived for generations.
There, he is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife, Randi (Michelle Williams), and the community where he was born and raised.
The film began a limited release on November 18, 2016, before a wide release on December 16, 2016. The film was a critical and commercial success. On a budget of $9 million, it grossed $79 million worldwide.
The following year, 'Manchester by the Sea' received six Oscar nominations. However, it won only two for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Casey Affleck) and Best Writing (Original Screenplay). This occurred at the 89th Academy Awards in late February 2017.
Lonergan boasts a career that is, in many ways, both impressive and surprising. Some may say that Lonergan is carrying on the tradition of such directors as John Cassavetes ('Shadows', 'Faces', 'A Woman Under the Influence', 'The Killing of a Chinese Bookie').
With a successful career as a playwright preceding his turn as a screenwriter and director, Lonergan seems to have come from the perfect background in creating sympathetic characters in universal, recognizable situations, a key component in what he terms the "salvation of the ordinary".
While not the most prolific filmmaker of his generation, audiences could always count on a thought-provoking look at the lives of identifiable characters in any Lonergan offering.
Lonergan has been active from 1982–present.
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