Plot: What’s it about?
As children, Sammy (Laura Linney) and Terry (Mark Ruffalo) were orphaned at a young age after their parents were victims of a car crash. As adults, Sammy is a single mother of an opinionated son (Rory Culkin) and working as the lending officer for a bank. She lives in the same home she grew up in. Life takes a most unusual turn when a new boss (Matthew Broderick) enters the picture and makes changes not to everybody’s liking. Meanwhile, Terry enters into a situation that results in him coming to visit Sammy and he leaves a unique impression both on Sammi and her son.
It is disturbing and it is slightly depressing, but You Can Count On Me doesn’t bog down into a soap opera of sappy and happy ending proportions. There is no sugarcoated characters. They grow, they develop but they never turn down a path and become a caricature of themselves that would weaken the film as a whole. The script, by playwright Kenneth Lonergan, has true dialogue that pulls no punches and gives everyone a chance to have their moment whether its the first meeting of Sammy and Terry or when it comes time for the two siblings to evaluate themselves in their status as adults. The same can be said about Lonergan’s direction as his choice of shots are well done and exceptional, particularly the scene dealing with Terry walking down the street chatting up with a policeman leading up to his reuniting with Sammy.
This is the first film this viewer remembers introducing the work of actor Mark Ruffalo and he is superb as Terry, a brother who doesn’t know where his life is going from one moment to the next and wherever it goes, the results can turn out disappointing or troublesome but throughout the entire film, we find out that Terry isn’t so troublesome but just someone that reacts differently to awkward situations. Solid support is given by Rory Culkin as the son who shares a special bond with Terry that he never had with anyone else as he accepts Terry for who he is. Also solid is Matthew Broderick as the new boss that has his nit picky ways but as the audience finds out, there’s a little more to him than meets the eye away from the job. Even director Lonergan gets in on the acting and give a nice little performance as a priest Sammy goes to for advise.
It’s not the feel good movie of the year and it might not be for every audience, but with it’s great dialogue and exceptional acting, You Can Count On Me is a character piece that is one to count on.
Video: How does it look?
You Can Count On Me is, perhaps, one of the least likely titles that I could imagine getting the 4K treatment. Not that it isn’t deserving, I just don’t see this film and think “Wow. I have to wonder what this would look like in 4K?” There are brighter scenes that has a speck every few seconds and even though most of the film has an independent clarity, the whites and a few of the darker scenes suffer every few seconds with a slight debris flicker. This is especially evident during the opening credits of the film. Despite those flaws, this new re-master is a large step forward in the film’s overall picture quality.
Audio: How does it sound?
The DTS HD Master Audioo track is more dialogue driven and reserved for the occasional uses of music and the great Donkey Kong video game sound effects. This is no demonstration for a top of the line home theater system but the dialogue comes out clear through all channels and the occasional effects come through the outer channels clearly without the volume having to be raised to hear everything. Overall, a decent track.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Audio Commentary – Director Kenneth Lonergan comes across as honest and very knowledgable of other films and he discusses the choices he made and what he watched to prepare for making this film. He doesn’t pull no punches on his beliefs and the ideas he had for this film. There are very few gaps and the commentary is constantly interesting and it makes for a very good commentary track.
- Interviews – New interviews with Director Kenneth Lonergan, Matthew Broderick, Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney are a nice addition. We see some of the different ways in which they “ended up” in this film, Ruffalo was cast after Ethan Hawke passed, Broderick’s name helped finance the film and so on. It’s a good, and new, piece.
- Theatrical Trailer
- Illustrated Booklet – An essay by playwright Rebecca Gilman and the script of the original one-act play offers her insight as well as the usual faire of production notes and stills from the film.
The Bottom Line
This is, at times, a very difficult film to watch. It’s not your typical Hollywood outing. But it’s got some great performances, namely from Ruffalo and Linney, and tells a lot about sibling relationships. Criterion’s new 4K offering gives us a much improved picture and a new supplement only sweetens the deal.
