YOU CAN COUNT ON ME -------------------
Single, small town mom Sammy Prescott (Laura Linney, "The Truman Show") is delighted to receive a letter from her younger brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo, "Committed"), who's returning for a visit after some long term, aimless travelling. Tempers immediately flare, however, when Sammy learns Terry's girlfriend is pregnant and he needs money. The complex relationship of these orphanned siblings is explored in writer/director Ken Lonergan's Sundance Grand Jury and Waldo Salt screenwriting awards winner, "You Can Count on Me."
LAURA:
Writer/director Ken Lonergan establishes his screenwriting abilities while making a tentative directorial debut with "You Can Count on Me." While his fine cast keep the audience involved in their unique yet recognizable situtations, Lonergan's film is visually flat.
Sammy has clearly assumed the mother role in her relationship with Terry, who acts the needy and irresponsible child. (Her own child, Rudy (Rory Culkin), is overprotected.) Sammy's in a jam at her job as Scottsville's bank loan officer. Her new ramrod straight boss Brian (Matthew Broderick) demands that she discontinue her practice of taking fifteen minutes of her lunch hour in midafternoon to pick up Rudy from school. Terry steps in and begins to fill a big need, providing the male interaction and law loosening Rudy's been craving. In fact, Terry empowers Sammy to begin to act irresponsibly as she slips into an affair with her married boss while turning down her long-standing boyfriend Bob's (Jon Tenney) proposal of marriage.
The cast is terrific and true. Linney and Ruffalo, who bear no physical resemblance whatsover, are emotionally on target as soulfully close siblings who judge each other harshly. Matthew Broderick takes his "Election" cheating spouse and adds endearingly geeky quirks to hilarious and frustrating effect (he's so uptight he bans employees from setting their computer monitors background colors). Jon Tenney plays the small town honest guy with a maturity issue recognizably while Rory Culkin acquits himself well. Lonergan gives himself a cameo as the local priest whom Sammy calls upon to 'help' Terry.
Lonergan's writing here is far superior to his more commercial work in "Analyze This," only ringing false in one scene where Sammy gives Terry an uncharacteristic public scolding in a local restaurant. His portrait of a small, upstate New York town, where trailer dwellers mix with owners of sprawling colonial homesteads at the local pool hall is beautifully rendered, almost seeming frozen in time. Unfortunately, the camera (cinematography by Stephen Kazmierski, "The Myth of Fingerprints") is too static, giving all interior scenes the feel of actors in a square frame.
"You Can Count on Me" is a small, regional feeling film which offers us several rich character studies.
B
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