Starring: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Rated: MA15+
WHEN Sammy and Terry Prescott were still children, they lost both their parents in a car accident.
Their failure to cope with this dreadful loss manifests itself in different ways. Sammy (Laura Linney) has stayed living in the family home in Scottsville, worships at the local Methodist parish and works at the bank to provide for Rudy (Rory Culkin) whom she had eight years before to a no-hoper from the next town.
Sammy seems well adjusted. Terry (Mark Ruffalo), on the other hand, has become a rolling stone, drifting through jobs, cities, relationships, drug and alcohol abuse and in and out of jail. He comes back to Scottsville because he needs money.
Terry is a tragic, but lovable figure. He looks unkempt, has lost his self-esteem and resents anything that ties him down. His visit home does not go well.
Sammy responds to this disaster in the way she has before. She tries to bolster her fragile self-esteem through having two brief affairs – one with Bob (Jon Tenney), a local man who thinks he wants to marry her; the other with Brian (Matthew Broderick), her new boss at the bank.
You Can Count on Me is a moving story about the power of unresolved grief.
On the surface, Sammy and Terry are poles apart, but emotionally they are both still grief-stricken children finding a way to deal with their loss.
One becomes the ultimate people pleaser, the other is self indulgent. The only thing either of these characters can count on is the pain they share together.
The film is filled with humour and compassion. Beautifully shot, You Can Count on Me allows us to get to know these multi-layered characters and to care for them.
Laura Linney has rightly won a host of awards for her work in this film and was nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Oscars. She and Mark Ruffalo give finely honed and believable performances.
This film also tries to take religious responses to life’s tragedies seriously, with first-time writer/director Kenneth Lonergan playing Fr Bob, Sammy’s priest who she turns to for advice and pastoral care. It is only partially successful here, but it is a better attempt than many other films.
There is no big Hollywood ending here, but the film is full of hope that the search for healing and peace can lead to a self-esteem that we can count on.
