You Can Count On Me

Rating:
Summary: The film equivalent of 'Friends'
Review: 'You can count on me' is the indie movie 'Friends', where prickly situations about families and relationships waft in a feel-good haze. A case in point is the crucial bout of violence. The films of Shane Meadows usually feature such a scene, which have a tendency to break the fragile nature of the home or society in which it is played out. It's either bleakly final (24:7) or desperately covered up ('A Room For Romeo Brass'). Director Lonergan doesn't quite have the courage of this scene, and neuters it with tears, big smiles and hugs. This is symptomatic of the film as a whole, where even the mumbling are prodigiously articulate. And yet, deep down, the film's circular pattern, where a couple representing Happy Family die in a car, and a couple representing Family That Can't Live Together drive apart, suggests more searching themes. If the excellent Matthew Broderick had been central, you'd have had a more troubling film.

Rating:
Summary: This is the real thing
Review: This is the hardest review I'll ever write.

My mother recently committed suicide. My father died seven years ago of cancer. I'm 34 years old, and I am seen by my two sisters as the f-up brother. I can honestly say that I can totally relate to this film.

Laura Linney is dead-on as a sister who is trying to live a "normal" life; work at the bank, pick up the son in her SUV, and believe in God, about 15 years after the sudden tragic death of her parents. Her brother is immature, unreliable, can't hold a job, and smokes an awful lot of pot. She is the "caretaker" in the sibling relationship. But, as the film unveils, she certainly can't take care of herself. And the f-up brother isn't as worthless and stupid and selfish as he is supposed to be.

This is a real film about real people dealing with the extrodinarily frustrating and painful task of carrying on after a tragic family loss. And they go on. They continue, the best they can.

There is dysfunction and then there is dysfunction. Some of us know what a real dysfunctional family is. And we're not whiners. We're heroes. And this film is for us.

Rating:
Summary: A moving family story
Review: I am glad that "You Can Count on Me," the wonderful film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, was given a higher profile in the wake of its Academy Award nominations. This is a classic "small" film: it takes place entirely in or around a small town, and focuses on a small group of ordinary people. But the emotions of this film are powerful, the story is relevant, and Lonergan gets outstanding performances from a wonderful cast.

Laura Linney plays Sammy, a single mother and bank employee. When her troubled brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) returns to town, Sammy's life and relationship with her young son (Rory Culkin) become complicated by Terry's influence. Sammy has to juggle this domestic situation with controversy at work, where her anal-retentive boss (Matthew Broderick) is making lives miserable.

The story sounds simple, but Lonergan's intelligent script really brings us into the lives of these characters. And the performances truly make this film worth seeing. Linney carries the lead role with passionate grace, and has great chemistry with her screen brother Ruffalo. Broderick delivers a wonderfully multilayered performance as a character who is at times pathetic, at times sympathetic, and at times downright infuriating. And Culkin is a revelation as the young son; this is one of the best performances by a child actor that I have ever seen.

"You Can Count on Me" deals insightfully with a number of relationships: mother/son, brother/sister, boss/employee, pastor/churchgoer, and more. Lonergan deftly blends moments of both heartbreak and hilarity into a richly satisfying whole. If you want to see a serious adult drama with some sparkling comic moments, check out this film--it's one of the year's best.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: Most people never have even heard of this movie, and they are seriously missing out on a very uplifting and charming movie. Laura Linney and Mike Ruffalo play brother and sister. Ruffalo's character is a drifter, moving place to place, only writing to his sister occasionally. Then one day, he heads home, to re-create the bond between the two of them. And also with Linney's son. The movie is absoultely fantastic and everyone should watch it. Amongst the wonderful script and beautiful setting, there are suprising stars like Matthew Broderick. You have to check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Affecting, Transporting Drama
Review: Relationships and the problems faced by people just trying to get through the day and make some sense of their lives is explored in "You Can Count On Me," written and directed by Ken Lonergan. The story focuses on Samantha "Sammy" Prescott (Laura Linney), a single mother living in a small town in New York State, who has worked at the same bank for seven years while raising her son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), on her own. Then one day her brother, Terry (Mark Ruffalo), whom she has not seen for sometime, shows up. He moves in with Sammy and Rudy, and for awhile provides Sammy with some help, especially with Rudy; it's a welcome respite from juggling her work schedule and trying to do it all herself. And it takes some of the pressure off, as her new boss, Brian Everett (Matthew Broderick), is a stickler who takes exception to Sammy having to leave early every day to pick up her son from school. At about this same time, however, an on-again-off-again relationship Sammy has had with a man named Bob Stegerson (Jon Tenney) begins to get complicated, while the situation at home starts to tweak in the wake of some questionable decisions made by Terry that involve Rudy. And-- as if all that weren't enough-- inexplicably, at work sparks suddenly begin to fly between Sammy and Brian.

Lonergan does an excellent job of bringing his story to life. The Screenplay is well written and intelligent, and offers some real insight into the human condition by embracing the very flaws and foibles of which we are all endowed, and which we all must deal with in one way or another in our own lives. It's an engrossing, emotionally gripping film that presents very real characters and situations, and one of it's strengths is in the honesty, of not only the actions, but the "reactions" of the people playing out the drama. And it's that genuine sincerity at the core of the story that makes this film so effective and believable. Well directed and acted, it's quite simply an affecting and memorable film.

Laura Linney has never been better than she is here, and deservedly received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Sammy. She has a thorough grasp of the character that makes her real-- this imperfect woman and mother coping with the stress in her life and just trying to do the best she can and what she thinks is right. Her portrayal acknowledges Sammy's strengths and vulnerability, as well as the fact that people change and relationships evolve; that what may have been right for her a year ago isn't necessarily what she needs today. Sammy is a complex character, and Linney convincingly takes her through a wide range of emotional levels that evokes empathy for her and makes her someone you care about.

Terry is a complex character as well, a young man with a good heart, lacking perhaps some personal direction, but whose biggest fault may be that he cares too much and feels too deeply. And Ruffalo plays him perfectly. Like a young Brando, he hits every note just right in bringing Terry to life. He has a natural, charismatic and extremely engaging screen presence, and he is absolutely terrific in this role. He's a gifted actor from whom we can expect great things in the future.

Also giving a solid performance is the always reliable Broderick, who admirably continues to take some career chances with roles such as this one, as he did with the part of the teacher, Jim McAllister, in "Election." In both cases, they are ordinary yet flawed characters who are not necessarily ingratiating in any way, but as played by Broderick they are at least people to whom one can definitely relate.

The supporting cast includes Ken Lonergan (Ron), Gaby Hoffman (Sheila), Kim Parker (Rudy Sr.'s Girlfriend) and Josh Lucas (Rudy Sr.). With "You Can Count On Me," Lonergan delivers a tender and poignant story with something of a wistful ending, the impact of which is enhanced by the very reality of it's characters and situations. And there are humorous moments, as well, that evolve naturally from the story, just as they do in real life. In the end, this is transporting drama with which many will be able to identify, for the roads it travels are the same ones many of those who see it will have been down themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Unspoiled & Down To Earthl...
Review: I and and friend happened upon this movie by chance, as we had planed on seeing something else. However, we were both delighted with the movie, actors, plot etc. I am just sorry that this picture was not promomted better than it was. So many of my friends had not even heard of it prior to the Acadamy Awards. Too bad. See it if you get the chance, as I think it is certainly worth the price of admission!

Rating:
Summary: Honest, low-key, refreshing
Review: No glam hollywood stars, no cheap sentimentality, no in-your-face editing, no socio- or politico- or other lesson delivered with a hammer, no "art film" affectations. Just a low-key, simply-told, very touching story of ordinary people so beautifully acted and directed that you think you live in that little village and you have known all the characters since school days. I didn't think they made movies like that any more!

Rating:
Summary: You Can Count On Me
Review: I think that great movies are the ones that I continue to think about the day (weeks, months) after I have seen them. "You Can Count On Me" is one of those kind of movie. Far from the Hollywood Glitz, this movie has characters in it that could be me or any other "ordinary" human being. This movie is a study of sibling relationships, single-motherhood and most of all the grief that follows a great trauma or loss.

This movie resists the temptation to give itself a "Happy Hollywood Ending," though I must admit that there was a part of me that wanted the two siblings to be able to stay together and come to a happy resolution. However, that just wasn't who they were. The most profound point this movie makes is that sometimes people face a grieve that is so great that it stays with them (invisibly and inperceptable in some ways) throughout their whole life. The grief becomes a part of who they are and because of this trauma or loss they become less than who they would have been had the trauma not happened. There is a sadness in both of these characters lives but it is a sadness that draws me to them and respect them. It gives them "character" and makes the movie become about "real" people.

Rating:
Summary: cinematic storytelling
Review: "You Can Count on Me" is a top-quality example of cinematic storytelling -- not heavily plotted, but nearly sublime in its execution.

The story is in essence about the relationship between stable single-mother Sammy (Laura Linney) and her ne'er-do-well knockabout brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo). Orphaned at a young age, the two siblings obviously responded very differently to what life has brought them. The only suspense is whether Terry, who's come back to visit, will stay on very long and whether Sammy will end up with her vacillating suitor Bob.

Laura Linney, memorable as Mary Ann Singleton in "Tales of the City," makes her mark in this film as the exceptional actress that she is. She brings such authenticity. This performance is a dazzling point in a relatively inconspicuous career, and I suspect she hasn't peaked. Her portrayal of Sammy's enduring affection for her not-quite-useless brother is what makes the film work.

Mark Ruffalo is an example of Perfect Casting. Perfectly cast and perfectly played, he's truly the bad brother with a good heart. Never has a character had more misplaced good intentions coupled with such appallingly bad judgment in choosing how to act in the world. And Ruffalo is utterly believable.

The most recognizable actor is Matthew Broderick, who plays Sammy's pain-in-the-neck boss and (how'd that happen?) lover. This was the one jarring thing: Why Sammy would get with this guy... I didn't buy it, but it's really a side story. As a matter of interest, Rory McCulkin -- Macauley's little brother -- is Sammy's son and plays well with others.

Low-key with remarkable moments, this domestic drama is for those who go to the movies to savor the talents of the actors.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story about the love between brother and sister
Review: This is one of those types of films where the things not shown on the screen, not spoken between the characters, and not resolved by the director are just as meaningful as those that are. In other words, director Kenneth Lonergan does not generate the usual predictable Hollywood feel good story. "You Can Count On Me" is much too mature and real a film to resort to old plot devices like that. It is quite a surprise coming from Lonergan, whose previous work included writing credits on "Analyze This" and "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle".

Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo are exceptional as Samantha (Sammy) and Terry Prescott, older sister and younger brother. I will not ruin too many of the key plot points, except to note that they are put under lots of stress early in the life, and the story begins when Terry drifts back into Sammy's life in the small town where she lives. It's the type of small town where everyone knows the sheriff and the priest and pretty much everyone else by name.

Sammy is a single mother of a young boy Rudy, played by the youngest of the Culkin brothers Rory in a very strong child performance (I find those to be rare). As with many older siblings, she tries to be as responsible as possible, and on some levels she succeeds. She tries as hard as she can to shield her son from the truth about his father, and she juggles a job at a local bank with her duties as a mother. But she is struggling to maintain order and integrity in her life while finding happiness for herself, and sometimes the lines are confused. Linney hasn't had too many big parts in the past, but in this film she is thoroughly convincing.

Terry is your classic charming rogue, the rebellious youngest sibling always getting into trouble, unable to hold down a job, always in need of borrowing a few bucks, drifting from town to town around America by bus, but able to survive on his toughness and smooth tongue. Ruffalo is amazing in this role. He drives Sammy crazy because he is so unreliable, because she loves him and wishes desperately wants for him what she thinks is important in life: to hold down a steady job, generate a steady stream of income, stay out of prison. He looks at his sister and sees through her veneer of responsibility and control and sees someone who has settled in for a dull, sheltered life in a provincial town. He also sees how sheltered a life Rudy lives and immediately jumps into that void and becomes Rudy's friend and father figure. The scene where he takes Rudy to a pool hall is priceless.

The movie is both touching and funny (Matthew Broderick makes a comic cameo as Sammy's new bank manager), and by the end of the film you love the characters because you know how flawed they are and how hard they are trying to do what's right. There are no scripted Hollywood happy endings, nor are there scripted unhappy endings. This is the type of movie I can watch over and over again, because it is such an open story. Is Terry or Sammy more in control? Will either of them be happy? Will Sammy remarry? Will Terry ever settle down into a real job? The beauty of this movie is that by the end of the film, these and a hundred other questions are left unanswered, and you may or may not have the answers, but you will care enough to ask them.