Rating: 
Summary: Warm Dose of Reality Sprinkled with a little Classical Music
Review: As the credits rolled down the screen, I told myself that I just saw a movie that threw a bucket of reality in my face. You Can Count On Me offers very little of what could be considered life affirming or great about the human spirit. Just because some scenes were accompanied by classical music doesn't make it a great movie. Granted, not all good movies need to have the uplift effect but this one brought me down. Maybe that is where it intends to leave you. The Sammy character (Laura Linney)and her younger brother played by Mark Ruffalo have their share of self-inflicted problems. This dutiful daughter casts judgement on everyone she encounters including the boyfriend that asks her to marry her. "You have to grow up," she tells him after telling him she won't accept his proposal. Meanwhile, she never takes the symbolic step in the movie of growing up herself. Throwing her brother out of the house didn't really count. He is a guy with his hair constantly on fire and probably would have left anyway. The brother is a rebellious spirit who rejects the small town conventionality of his sister. Living the wild, eternal youth existence of the wandering stranger somewhere else appeals to him more than being the troubled townie from Scottsville. Either way he is a pathetic spirit with inner turmoil. Mark Ruffalo does an exceptional job playing the guy that likes to get things all shook up as, in the scene, he brings the young Rudy to see his uncaring father Rudy Sr. on the seedy end of town. The way the movie was shot was very good but the plot didn't do much to tie up lose ends. Don't let the classical music fool you, this is a film with too few redeeming qualities.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense Character Study
Review: This film, though starting slowly, was superbly acted. The plot was so realistic as to possibly mirror one's own family. While so disturbing that it made me wriggle in my seat, it was strangely satisfying, perhaps because it allowed one to accept the eccentricities of their own family ties with hope that they might work out OK. Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of the brother was so awe-inspiring - it was as if there were a hidden camera in a real life situation. Young Culkin's acting so far surpassed his older brother's that it was hard to believe that McCauley (sp?) could bring in more cash to the family. I originally rented this film half-expecting it to be a "chick-flick", but was so inspired that I have told all of my friends about it, cautioning men that the title should not put them off.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful plot, beautiful acting by Linney and Ruffalo.
Review: Kenneth Lonergan's directorial debut is an emotional compelling film, with characters realistically played by Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick, and Mark Ruffalo. A wonderful plot blended with complex characters set in a small New York town is all it takes for Lonergan to satisfy the audience's emotions. From Sammy's affair with her boss to her difficult relationship with her brother Terry, this is a must-see for all film fans.
Rating:
Summary: Not a standard Hollywood movie...
Review: This movie is definitely not your traditional hollywood movie. Its not about special effects, or big drama or even overwrought emotionality. Rather, this is about real people, struggling to find a path in life. Its a tale of humanity. Laura Linney turns in a performance that deserved an Oscar nomination as Sammy, sister to Mark Ruffalo's character Terry. At a young age, Sammy and Terry were emotionally scarred by their parents sudden death. As they grew up, rootless Terry took off to explore life outside of their small town, and Sammy settled down - she got married and divorced, had a child, and began working at the local bank. After one long extended disappearance, Terry shows up again at the home that they both own, asking Sammy for money. But then things begin to change as Terry winds up staying with Sammy and her son Rudy for a visit. Slowly Terry begins to act as a male father-like influence on Rudy, spending time with the sheltered young boy, trying to teach him "that life sucks". Meanwhile, Sammy begins to let her hair down again by impulsively starts an affair with her detestable boss, and her steady boyfriend proposes. A study in human contrasts, You Can Count on Me wound up touching me in both predictable and odd moments. Such as when Sammy cries out, during one confrontation, "I wish Mom was here." Or when she kicks him out for what he does to them. Even as he lashes out wrongly at Rudy, Terry's immaturity kicks you in the solar plexus. What really got to me was the fact that even as Sammy was Terrys anchor to stability, Terry is Sammy's anchor to a constant enduring bond. This movie doesn't have a happy ending- or an unhappy ending. Rather, it has what I call a life ending. That is, it ends in such a way that you have to remember that life does keep going, and you have to life life on your own terms. This movie is definitely one of the best movies I've seen this year. I'd recommend it for people who want real characters and excellent acting.
Rating:
Summary: a fabulous character piece
Review: How to start this review, other than to say that this film is arguably the most well-acted and well-scripted film of the past year. While the story is pure TV-movie-of-the-week territory, Lonergan's funny, truthful script, and the mesmeric performances of Linney, Ruffalo, and Broderick elevate this film way above standard character-driven fare. This was one of those movies that reminds you of how pleasureable it is to watch quality film-making and acting. If this is the standard of Lonergan's work, I can only look forward with baited breath to his next project. Outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: A Polished Gem
Review: "You Can Count on Me" was a gem: multi-faceted and perfectly polished. It is a movie where nothing extraordinary happens, there is no grand final outcome, and we are left wondering about the future of the characters. This movie is mostly character development via small, everyday events that, added together are not much, but which reveal volumes about the characters. They are people we have all known and listened to, dealing with the realities of life. Not the realities as perceived by Hollywood, but the daily grind of living. I laughed and cried at this story of the loser brother and responsible sister. Yet in their own ways, they are both screw-ups. I felt the elation that the sister felt when her brother came back to town, only to have her hopes dashed when he told her why. The brother is goodhearted but undependable and the sister needs dependability so her life runs on schedule for her young son. They are opposites yet alike in that they both are bumbling through life--her life is just more conventional. We see the sadness of lives lived alone whether by design or by an inability to commit. The casting for this movie was terrific, as was the dialogue. Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney were absolutely perfect in their roles. It took special acting ability to carry this kind of simple story, simply told.
Rating: 
Summary: Forgettable short film
Review: I saw this last night and think I should review it before I completely forget about it. This film apparently started out as a short film about two people eating lunch in a restaurant and has been expanded into feature length. Fairly interesting characters in search of a plot. If your idea of drama is watching a woman try to convince her brother to go to church then you will probably enjoy this movie, but that's about as dramatic as this movie gets. I got the impression that the writer/director has not lived a particularly interesting life. I do think it is a good thing that boring people have the opportunity to make boring movies; someday soon maybe we will all have a movie out on DVD, and from those millions of efforts perhaps one or two good works of art will emerge. That being said, this film is much much better than Gladiator.
Rating:
Summary: A must see!!
Review: I loved this movie. After four or five bad movie rentals in a row, it was nice to hit the jackpot....finally. Yes!
Rating:
Summary: Too good to not support
Review: I'm usually too lazy to write something recommending a book or movie that I enjoy. Because I felt so much empathy for the main characters in this film I have taken a personal interest in leading the horse to water, so to speak. This movie was amazing. Maybe it helped that Mark Ruffalo was more or less unknown when it came out, but his scenes all seemed so unbelievably real. I think the most powerful was when he takes his nephew to see his cold, son-of-a-... father. The thrill I felt when he punched him, and the accompanying guilt that soon followed were so primal. It was almost as real as if it was. The nephew was great too, forced to become "the man of the house" well before he should have. I don't think it's fair to Laura Linney that my praise is all for her co-stars, but I felt at times she was acting. Her character's reactions are pulled from the same suitcase her prosecutor lugged around in Primal Fear. I hate world-weariness that seems false. If you're over the age of 12, you've seen enough to be genuienly world-weary. Anyhow, her scenes are still credible, and she's best when you can see the mischeviousness beneath her been-there, I'm tough, facade. All-in-all, I think this film best demonstrated cinema's capacity to reveal human longing and need out of last year's slate, Crouching Tiger be ... (don't get me started on last year's Blair Witch project). The character are vulnerable, endearing, exasperating-enough adjectives though. I have a running argument with a friend who claims that movies are grossly inferior to books (Voltaire couldn't see why people got all hot and bothered over Shakespheare). I know that people who feel that way tend to universally debase popular tastes, but with Jurassic Park III and Cats and Dogs coming out soon, sometimes I forget why he's wrong. But as Shakespheare said, "the play's the thing," and You Can Count on Me is a film that redeem's "the play's" contemporary cousin.
Rating:
Summary: There's No Mystery To The Appeal of This Film
Review: This is a film that activates the viewer by presenting situations, issues and obstacles that we all encounter in our adult lives. That the siblings depicted (wonderfully played by Laura Linney and, in particular, the magnetic Mark Ruffalo as the troubled Terry) have lost their parents and are left with a small measure of familial support (each other), serves to increase our sensitivity to their drama and magnify our own personal ties with family, society, our local community and the church (basically, all the fiber of contemporary life). In the context of American film, this is the most refreshing thing to cross the Atlantic in a long, long while; in the context of American independent film, it's a masterpiece (even if you can see boom mikes overhead in some scenes). Lonnergan has a terrific cast and an excellent script that they just love. A contemporary American film where people have religion, and faith is actually a part of people's lives? Where a priest arrives and isn't an object of derision, comedy or projectile vomiting? Whether you're religious or not doesn't matter--it's just refreshing that Lonnergan would offer us a dialogue about it (and a sly, provocative one, at that). One of my favourite scenes: when Terry first arrives back in town and is, step-by-step, recognised and greeted by the local sheriff and other people (it's that kind of town). Ruffalo's performance evokes such empathy, you'll be sobbing uncontrollably. (Maybe you have to travel a long way from home to appreciate it.) This film will resonate with mature audiences and apparently leave others baffled.
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