You Can Count on Me Review

by Norm Schrager (cnull AT mindspring DOT com)
November 24th, 2000
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
A film review by Norm Schrager
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com

You Can Count on Me is a film that, in true Sundance form, mixes the
familiar with the unexpected. The Best Dramatic Film winner from this
year's festival has some actors we've seen before (including Matthew
Broderick) and some traditional storylines (single Mom's troubles, loner
returns to hometown), but first-time writer-director Ken Lonergan adds
just enough unpredictable dialogue and creativity to make this movie the
real deal.

The single Mom is Sammy (Laura Linney), an organized bank loan officer
living in her small-town childhood home. The loner is her scraggly
brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo), a troubled wanderer coming back to ask
Sammy for cash. And while this seems pretty basic from the outset,
Lonergan has some smart ideas up his sleeve.

Most notable is the way he uses the character Rudy, Sammy's 8-year old
son, a kid utilized by Lonergan as well as any writer has ever used a
child, avoiding action that seems cutesy or contrived. Sammy would love
for Terry to be a strong male influence on Rudy while he's visiting, but
she isn't sure she trusts him.

Rudy (played by 11-year old Rory Culkin -- yes, another Culkin),
connects with Terry but is smart enough to know that his uncle's not the
brightest guy in the world. Their dialogue is the highlight of the
movie; there hasn't been such straight talk between two guys in a film
in a long time. In essence, Lonergan has written Rudy as a young boy
that has enough understanding to take people as they are.

Alas, Sammy should be so smart. She tries to anchor Terry, give him
home, give him purpose -- but maybe she needs all of the above as well.
The director never misses the opportunity to show the dichotomy and the
irony between the two siblings, but thankfully doesn't beat us over the
head with it.

Lonergan, who previously wrote The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,
has put together a killer cast to take advantage of his fine script.
Linney (The Truman Show) gets a once-in-a-career chance to shine, giving
Sammy the delicate balance between saint and whore. Ruffalo and young
Culkin are just great -- both are as meaningful and natural as it gets
-- and the aforementioned Broderick admirably takes a lesser role as
Sammy's new boss, a man who's got troubles of his own.

You Can Count On Me is directed and edited with a refreshing efficiency,
with Lonergan preferring to simply move along to the next scene if you
already know how this one will end. We don't need to see two people
stare at each other, start making out, and then jump into bed. Lonergan
gives us the stare, and then cuts to the bed after the sex is over. It
provides a nice dose of surprise and complexity throughout the movie.

The movie's dramatic flavor is occasionally peppered with some quality
laughs, in a healthy combination that also keeps the film moving, which
is good. But in the most unorthodox move of all, You Can Count On Me
really doesn't have any dramatic climax, no grand moment of epiphany.
It's just an intelligent look into a connected set of lives, in which a
neatly-tied ending isn't as important as the details that make up each
day.

RATING: ****
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
    \ *** Average, hits and misses \
    \ ** Sub-par on many levels \
    \ * Unquestionably awful \
    |------------------------------|

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Ken Lonergan
Producers: Barbara De Fina, John N. Hart, Larry Meistrich, Jeffrey Sharp
Writer: Ken Lonergan
Starring: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, Matthew Broderick,
Jon Tenney, J. Smith-Cameron, Ken Lonergan

http://www.youcancountonmemovie.com/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=filmcriticcom&path=subst/video/sellers/amazon-top-100-dvd.html Movie Fiends: Check out Amazon.com's Top 100 Hot DVDs!

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