The characters in the self-discovery melodrama “Year by the Sea” are in danger of drowning — not in the cold North Atlantic waters, but in the tidal wave of maritime metaphors unleashed by the script.
Based on three books of memoirs by writer Joan Anderson, the movie starts with Joan (played by Karen Allen) watching her oldest son, Andy (Tyler Haines), getting married. With younger son Luke (Graham King) also grown up, Joan is feeling empty-nest syndrome, and feeling neglected by her businessman husband, Robin (Michael Cristofer), who announces that for business reasons they’re moving from upstate New York to Wichita, Kan.