Directed by: Kenneth Lonergan
Starring: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, Kenneth Lonergan, Matthew Broderick, Jon Tenney
Terry Prescott wants to do the right thing by his sister Sammy and her son Rudy. There is no doubt his heart is in the right place, but then why does he wind up acting against his better nature? Terry (Ruffalo) and Sammy (Linney) raised each other after the death of their parents in a car accident years ago. Sammy is responsible; raising an eight-year old son (Culkin) as a single mom and working as a loan officer at the local bank. Sammy lives in her childhood home in upstate New York and has settled into a quiet life. Rudy's dad has been out of the picture for a while, and Sammy dates Bob (Tenney), a nice guy who one day can't commit and the next asks Sammy to marry him.
Sammy's workday includes confrontations with her annoying boss Brian (Broderick), who doesn't like his staff's computer screens to be set to loud colors and especially doesn't appreciate Sammy having to leave work to pick Rudy up at the school bus stop each day. While being finicky about bank rules, Brian has no qualms about starting an affair with Sammy even with a many-months pregnant wife at home. Terry's life is one of drifting. He left behind a girlfriend to visit Sammy, only to pull his usual move of asking for money to send back to the girlfriend. He then hangs around, tries to fix a nasty leak in the house (although this is way beyond his skill set), and provides Rudy with a man in his life even if Terry takes him to shoot pool when the kid should be in bed.
The dynamic between Sammy and Terry has been going on like this for years. Sammy is thrilled to see Terry, hoping this time he may have changed his irresponsible ways, and maybe because Terry at least provides some change in her otherwise humdrum existence. What makes You Can Count on Me such a fascinating watch is how intimately we feel we know these siblings. Linney and Ruffalo have easy chemistry and familiarity. We think we have Terry wired, but then he pulls something out of his sleeve which makes us think differently, such as dealing with Rudy's dad when he decides to return after many years away. That is sometimes temporary.
Written and directed with subtlety and grace by Kenneth Lonergan (who also plays the local priest Sammy confides in regularly), You Can Count on Me never has to raise its voice to be heard loud and clear. It is a film as quiet as the small New York town in which it takes place, but the drama is stirring and the characters aren't cookie-cutter people, but flexible, imperfect, and ever-changing. Even Terry, to a degree.
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