You Can Count on Me (2000) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, Matthew Broderick and Jon Tenney. Written and directed by Ken Lonergan. Rated R.
Life is a messy proposition.
Absolutes, it seems, only exist in the movies ó and thatís because audiences require a closure of some sort.
That is what makes You Can Count on Me so unusual. It is a movie that deals with life issues and in a manner that mirrors reality ó sloppy, flawed and inconclusive.
Sammy (Laura Linney) has been on her own since her parents were killed in a traffic accident.
As the film opens, Sammy is the lending officer at a small-town bank branch. She is a single mom with an 8-year-old son, Rudy (Rory Culkin).
Her younger brother, Terry (Mark Ruffalo), is a drifter and a screw-up. In need of money, he abandons his girlfriend and drops in on his big sister.
And the family dynamics begin. Sammy mothers Terry, brow beating him for not keeping in touch. He finally admits that he served a few months in a Florida jail because of his involvement in a barroom fight.
Sammy, meanwhile, has a lot on her plate. She is dating Bob (Jon Tenney) whom she may ó or may not ó love, and she is coping with a fussy new bank manager, Brian (Matthew Broderick), who at their first meeting, refuses to allow her to leave ó as is her custom ó from 3:15 to 3:30 so she can pick up her son at the bus stop and drop him off at the baby sitter.
Terry, meanwhile, decides to extend his visit after he discovers his girlfriend tried to commit suicide. Terry takes this opportunity to get closer to his nephew.
Written and directed by Ken Lonergan, You Can Count on Me rivets your attention not only because of the top-rate performances by all involved ó especially Linney and Ruffalo ó but because we each can recognize some of ourselves in the interaction between the two: The long-held resentments, the fear of disapproval the self-doubts about a course of action.
On a whim, it seems, Sammy begins an affair with the married Brian. Linney superbly displays Sammy's mixed emotions as she goes through a grab-bag of feelings ó from exhilaration to guilt ó after one tryst with her boss.
Ruffaloís Terry is really a good-hearted soul who just cannot do the right thing. He means no harm. Rather, he's merely a bit naive and even a bit idealistic.
When Rudy asks Terry about his father, the latter ó without consulting Sammy ó drives Rudy to the trailer where his father lives. There, the boy is rejected and denied, an action that so infuriates Terry that he gets into another fight and again winds up in trouble ó not only with the law ó but with Sammy.
Ruffalo plays Terry as a wounded animal, but one that has been mentally abused. It is a performance that garners sympathy and ultimately respect.
Broderick is clever in his supporting role as the anal boss who cannot understand why people continually question his authority or his decisions. Broderick, a childhood friend of Lonerganís, takes what could have been a one-dimensional buffoon and transforms him into a comical individual whom you can laugh at and recognize from your own workplace.
You Can Count on Me ends as it begins, with life going on and nothing really getting resolved. Terry leaves to see how his former girlfriend in faring, while Sammy merely drives back to the bank for another day of work.
Even this description is inadequate to explain the emotional resonance that rings through You Can Count on Me. Itís a movie that doesn't tackle any big issues or even make any profound statements. It is merely a look at some regular people making the best of their situations from day to day.
And, just like us, for them some days are better than others. And if you want a better day, I strongly recommend you take the time to see You Can Count on Me.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Other reviews by Bloom can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http:.//www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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