By
Graig Uhlin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Lonergan explores sensitivity of the human relationship
Grade: A
The bonds between people are, in essence, what all movies are about. All the showy special effects, the stunts and car crashes, the elaborate costumes, are meaningless without a firm grounding in a human relationship. Whether it is star-crossed lovers or parent and child, the trials and tribulations that bring people together and pull them apart is the substance that brings audiences into the theater. They go to see themselves.
Ken Lonergan's film "You Can Count on Me" forgoes any special effects and cinematic trickery in favor of a sensitive, moving tale of a brother and sister who have distinctly different approaches to life. They are bound by their love to one another, forged when a car accident killed their parents, but must struggle to keep that comarederie alive as adults where the brother's drifting, laid-back ways conflict with his sister's austere, regimented self.
The film begins as the brother Terry Prescott (Mark Ruffalo) returns to his hometown of Scottsville where his sister Sammy (Laura Linney) lives in the house they grew up in with her eight-year old son Rudy (introducing the latest from the Culkin child-star factory, Rory). Terry has been all around the country, drifting, when he arrives in town, and he needs money. Sammy relents and seemingly Terry's departure is going to be as quick as his arrival, but circumstances cause him to prolong his stay at a town he does not want to be in.
Terry's presence gives Sammy more freedom to stray from her church-going life, although she does continue to maintain appearances. She becomes the other woman when she sleeps with her new boss, Brian Everett (Matthew Broderick).
Meanwhile, though, Sammy becomes increasingly concerned about the way Terry interacts with her son - encouraging him to deviate from his mother's rigid standards - and thus begins the subtle tension between the siblings that persists throughout the movie. Writer-director Lonergan's greatest success with this film is his refusal to push the issue, to bring it out the front and waggle these siblings' differences in the audience's collective face.
Much like Steven Soderbergh does with "Traffic," Lonergan's film is not exactly out to make a point, but let the events that unfold on the screen convey the meaning. It is a good sign when filmmakers do not underestimate the intelligence of their viewers.
Evocative and moving, "You Can Count on Me" addresses the imperfect union between family, between people in general rather, where while opinions differ and ideologies clash, there is a more important reason, above all of the obstacles, to keep a bond intact. In fact, the film was made to say that you cannot escape the bond of family. Characters try but they are villainized, like Rudy's deadbeat dad.
Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney give a pair of leading performances that rivals any others given last year. Ruffalo's Terry is a gruff man with a slow way of talking and a simple way of seeing things, who resides happily in his aimlessness. He is an innocent, like Rudy, and Ruffalo smartly plays him that way. He is often mistaken, more often reckless and misguided, but there is a good-heartedness in him, brought to the surface wonderfully by Ruffalo, that makes him undeniably likeable. Linney too shines in this film, matches each one of Ruffalo's who-me looks with an icy glance and tight bottom lip. She seems in control and out of control all at the same time.
The film ends on a soft note, in keeping with the tone of what came before. It is contemplative and sensitive, remarkably un-Hollywood, and keeps the audience remembering about the importance of family.
