You Can Count On Me
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Screenwriters: Kenneth Lonergan
Institute History
Two siblings, orphaned at an early age, have grown
apart as adults. Sammy (Laura Linney), the older of
the two, has stayed in the small town of their
childhood. A single mother, she works in the local
bank and leads a steadfast moral life with her young
son. Terry (Mark Ruffalo), her younger brother whom
she helped raise, has become a self-destructive roamer
with a taste for the wilder side of life.
When Terry comes for a visit, his mere presence begins
to crack the veneer of Sammy’s well-ordered existence.
Each is uneasy with the person the other one has
become; the one tangible thing that keeps them
together is the family home left to them by their
parents. It also becomes the meeting place of their
hearts and minds as they struggle to reconcile their
conflicting lives with the love that binds them
together.
Kenneth Lonergan, a wise, observant writer, proves
subtle and insightful as a director. The performances
he extracts are exceptional. Linny is luminous as
Sammy, delighted and shocked as she begins an affair
with her married boss (a persnickety Matthew
Broderick). Ruffalo is raw and reactive, firmly
resisting the temptation to slip into the warmth and
quotidian life of his sister’s home. These characters,
defined by what they do that is out of character, are
fully realized and never cloying. In You Can Count on
Me, Lonergan has created a work which explores the
emotional landscape of commitment and love, family and
home, pleasure and responsibility. —John Cooper
- Dramatic Feature
- 2000, Sundance Film Festival
- U.S.A., 109 min.
- Awards
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award