For Kenneth Lonergan, an ambivalent moment in the sun

NEW YORK (AP) — The filmmaker and playwright Kenneth Lonergan, a self-described "ultra-naturalist" whose eloquently empathic stories tremble with the richness of daily life, began his writing career, surprisingly, awash in science fiction.

Lonergan would lead Matthew Broderick, his best friend since high-school, from their Upper West Side neighborhood to the Ziegfeld Theatre to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

"Life is full of very interesting, small details that usually get skipped over for the sake of economy," Lonergan, rumpled and genial, said in a recent interview in Soho, not far from where he lives with his wife, the actress J. Smith-Cameron and their 10-year-old daughter.

The latter was embroiled for years in a law suit and disagreements with the distributor, Fox Searchlight, and received only the scantest of theatrical releases.

Lonergan's new film, "Manchester by the Sea" (in theaters Friday), is already one of the most acclaimed movies of the year, roundly pegged as an Oscar favorite.

The film, toggling between the past and present, runs on two rails at once, leading to a heartbreaking portrait of a tragedy's long, unshakable shadow.

Time passed and schedules got complicated, and ultimately Lonergan took up directing, too, with Damon (now a producer) handing the role to his longtime friend, Affleck.

"Manchester by the Sea" drew raves at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, where Amazon plunked down $10 million for distribution rights.

Affleck, who starred in a London production of Lonergan's "Youth in Revolt," describes Lonergan as allergic to sentimentality and artificial convention.