Cheap You Can Count On Me (DVD) (Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick) (Kenneth Lonergan) Price

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Customer Reviews of You Can Count On Me

A moving family story
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.

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A touching character drama about a brother and sister
A small movie set in a small town delivers various big elements including top-notch performances from its two leads, extremely effective character development all around and a poignant message dipped with the importance of love, family, relationships and spirituality. This is obviously not a typical Hollywood picture and surely not for everyone, but definitely one to see for anyone who appreciates superior character studies, feels confused, overwhelmed or bored about their own life, and is curious about the familial foundation which supports this entire movie. This isn't a very upbeat film. It does contain a handful of lighter moments, but is basically a movie that feels sort of somber all the way through but doesn't ever really get boring. The force of the writing is the main reason for that, with the superior performances set forth by all, straddling in as a close second. Major kudos go out to Mark Ruffalo, who completely inhabits his role as the loose younger brother with the knack for getting into trouble, as well as Laura Linney, playing the full role of mother, sister, lover and employee to a tee. The excellent rapport between the two leads also makes you glad to be spending some time with them

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Natural and ordinary is good
It's a very ordinary movie. But yet, I found myself really enjoying it. And that may have been why I enjoyed it so much. BECAUSE it was ordinary.

The movie is about a brother and sister who are orphaned at a young age, Sammi and Terry. Years later, Terry comes back to the small town they grew up in and where Sammi still lives to ask her for money. A bond between Sammi's son and Terry is born and a rekindling between the brother and sister.

I was glad to be able to watch a movie where the characters were telling the story. I was also glad to watch a movie that focused on the brother-sister relationship because it's something not a lot of movies dwell in these days. I thought the writing and dialouge were fantastic. It felt so natural. But the highest point of this movie was the acting. Laura Linney was great. She was absolute perfect as Sammi. Matthew Broderick and Ken Lonergan were also great. Rory Kulkin is without a doubt the Kulkin Kid that has a real future in Hollywood. But the actor that really stood out for me was Mark Ruffalo. He was amazing as the wayward brother, Terry. He, along with everyone else, never over-acts. It's again ... natural.

And that's the element that appealed to me most. Everything is natural. And maybe to some natural is boring. But to me it was refreshing.