You Can Count on Me

You Can Count on Me


Starring:Betsy Aidem, Lisa Altomare, Matthew Broderick, Michael Countryman, Rory Culkin, Halley Feiffer, Nina Garbiras, Gaby Hoffmann, Richard Hummer, Peter Kerwin (II), Adam LeFevre, Laura Linney, Josh Lucas, Kim Parker (IV), Mark Ruffalo, Amy Ryan, J. Smith-Cameron, Jon Tenney, Whitney Vance
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
You Can Count On Me starts with a terrible car crash that instantly orphans a little boy and his older sister. At film's end, that boy, now a grown-up nomad and ne'er-do-well, takes off by Greyhound after a brief reunion with his sister, who lives at permanent anchor in their unspoiled hometown. The sibling saga that unreels between wrenching collision and bittersweet separation celebrates the idiosyncratic ways wounded folk like Terry (Mark Ruffalo) and Sammy (Laura Linney) put one foot in front of the other, both energized and hamstrung by the knowledge that nothing is ever certain in the road-movie of life. During his visit, Terry roils Sammy's becalmed existence, mostly by "fathering"--for good and ill--her overprotected 8-year-old (Rory Culkin), sneaking him out to play empowering bar pool, later introducing him to the weaselly dad he's fantasized into a superhero. Sammy starts a torrid affair with her married boss at the bank (Matthew Broderick gives delicious bureaucratic smarm), and considers marrying her sometime suitor (Jon Tenney), sweetly dull yet dependable. The narrative peaks here are human-sized, elevated by gentle humor and clear-eyed faith in the existential importance of these intersecting small-town lives. Linney is simply superb as Sammy, wild girl gone good, involuntarily "mothering" every man in her life. An authentic original, newcomer Ruffalo gives his modern-day Huck Finn a drawling, James Dean delivery tuned somewhere between a screwup's whine and the twang of pothead wisdom. (Hard to think of another recent film that so deftly nails down the rich dynamics of everyday conversation--the starts and stops, circumlocutions, clichés, sudden veers into revelation and eloquence.) This is that rarity, an action movie of the heart: no explosions or epiphanies, yet everything evolves through the catalysts of character and experience. --Kathleen Murphy
You Can Count on Me
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Real
  • Count of this film touching your heart...
  • Great thought provoking movie.
  • Unexpected ending
  • An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known
 You Can Count on Me
Starring: Betsy Aidem , Lisa Altomare , Matthew Broderick , Michael Countryman , and Rory Culkin
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Hoffmann, GabyHoffmann, Gaby | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Lefevre, AdamLefevre, Adam | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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Similar Items:
  1. XX/XY
  2. My Life Without Me
  3. We Don't Live Here Anymore
  4. In the Bedroom
  5. In the Cut (Unrated Director's Cut)

ASIN: B00003CXQ4
Release Date: 2001-06-26

Amazon.com

You Can Count On Me starts with a terrible car crash that instantly orphans a little boy and his older sister. At film's end, that boy, now a grown-up nomad and ne'er-do-well, takes off by Greyhound after a brief reunion with his sister, who lives at permanent anchor in their unspoiled hometown. The sibling saga that unreels between wrenching collision and bittersweet separation celebrates the idiosyncratic ways wounded folk like Terry (Mark Ruffalo) and Sammy (Laura Linney) put one foot in front of the other, both energized and hamstrung by the knowledge that nothing is ever certain in the road-movie of life. During his visit, Terry roils Sammy's becalmed existence, mostly by "fathering"--for good and ill--her overprotected 8-year-old (Rory Culkin), sneaking him out to play empowering bar pool, later introducing him to the weaselly dad he's fantasized into a superhero. Sammy starts a torrid affair with her married boss at the bank (Matthew Broderick gives delicious bureaucratic smarm), and considers marrying her sometime suitor (Jon Tenney), sweetly dull yet dependable. The narrative peaks here are human-sized, elevated by gentle humor and clear-eyed faith in the existential importance of these intersecting small-town lives. Linney is simply superb as Sammy, wild girl gone good, involuntarily "mothering" every man in her life. An authentic original, newcomer Ruffalo gives his modern-day Huck Finn a drawling, James Dean delivery tuned somewhere between a screwup's whine and the twang of pothead wisdom. (Hard to think of another recent film that so deftly nails down the rich dynamics of everyday conversation--the starts and stops, circumlocutions, clichés, sudden veers into revelation and eloquence.) This is that rarity, an action movie of the heart: no explosions or epiphanies, yet everything evolves through the catalysts of character and experience. --Kathleen Murphy

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Real.......2007-01-04

Real people. Real vices. Real mistakes. Real talented actors. Real bad background music in final scene. Real never-ending struggles. Real good film. Really short review.

5 out of 5 stars Count of this film touching your heart..........2006-12-08

A pure and engaging story of redemption amongst family, `You Can Count on Me' tells the story of Sammy (Laura Linney) and Terry Prescott (Mark Ruffalo), siblings who lost their parents in a horrific car crash when they were still very young. Years later and Sammy is a single mother of 8-year-old Rudy (Rory Culkin), she works hard at her job at the bank, now run by over critical Brain Everett (Matthew Broderick), and she struggles with telling her son just how much of a jerk his father really is (Josh Lucas has a great cameo as Rudy Senior). When Terry shows up after months of no communication Sammy is immediately thrilled, but shortly after his arrival she realizes her brother is still a screw-up and is just using her, again.

Terry shows up in need of money to pay for his girlfriend's abortion, but when his girlfriend tries to commit suicide he decides he needs to take a break from his life and so he stays with Sammy and Rudy. Over the course of a few weeks Terry has made a deep impact, especially in the life of young Rudy who idolizes him. This film follows the changes each of these siblings make, changes in themselves but also changes they cause others to make. It's a beautiful story of redemption and acceptance and it shouldn't be missed. The performances by the two leads are outstanding, and young Rory Culkin is adorable and mature as Sammy's son, but the real shock to me was Matthew Broderick who played the demanding, philandering, unlikable type brilliantly, and he's not one I'm generally impressed with.

5 out of 5 stars Great thought provoking movie........2006-04-07

This was an excellent movie about the hardships of real life. Both Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney do marvelous jobs in their performances. Mark is great as the troubled brother with no ambition whatsoever while Laura is wonderful as his sister, but trying to be motherly as well. A great story - I highly recommend it!

3 out of 5 stars Unexpected ending.......2005-12-15

There is no end at all. Everything goes back to it's original stage. Sammy is a poor little woman without love, family or anything she ever knew she wants, makes she happy, even his son is a load on her back.
Who say this is real life ? This is a life people chose to live.

5 out of 5 stars An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known.......2005-12-13

This is one of the best films I've seen in quite a while -- beautifully written, acted, and directed -- and to top it off, there's a beautiful Catskills setting. This is a film about family relationships, but not one of those unpleasant films where people spend two hours fighting on screen and you end up not liking anyone. Instead, these are three dimensional people in a three dimensional family -- you get both the good and the bad from both.

The story begins when a couple are killed in a car accident, leaving two children orphaned. This is the pivotal event in the lives of these two characters. We are never told who raises the children we see crying at the funeral, but the story shifts to perhaps 20 years later.

Each of the orphans has their own struggles -- Laura Linney's character, Sammy, is a single mother with an 8 year old son who is living in the family home and working as a loan officer in the small town bank. Matthew Broderick plays her new boss -- a thorough cad (and his role is comparatively minor). Sammy's brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) comes to visit her, basically to borrow money but also because his own life is once more falling apart. He is a charming ne'er do well. His sister Sammy appears to have her life together, but it becomes apparent that she's not doing as well as she appears to be. Terry ends up connecting with Sammy's son Rudy (played by Rory Culkin), which is both good and bad, because of Terry's personality (as noted previously, he's a charming ne'er do well -- Rudy is attracted to him but can Terry be trusted not to be a bad influence?). Despite all their failings, you end up liking most of the characters in this film and know that despite it all, this family has love.

This is the kind of movie that you want to listen to the director's commentary on -- and I don't know why it didn't win an Oscar for the best screenplay.
You Can Count on Me [Region 2]
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Real
  • Count of this film touching your heart...
  • Great thought provoking movie.
  • Unexpected ending
  • An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known
 You Can Count on Me [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
DVDs Under $14.99DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( Y )( Y ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Similar Items:
  1. XX/XY
  2. My Life Without Me
  3. We Don't Live Here Anymore
  4. In the Bedroom
  5. In the Cut (Unrated Director's Cut)

ASIN: B00005NVNF

Amazon.com

You Can Count On Me starts with a terrible car crash that instantly orphans a little boy and his older sister. At film's end, that boy, now a grown-up nomad and ne'er-do-well, takes off by Greyhound after a brief reunion with his sister, who lives at permanent anchor in their unspoiled hometown. The sibling saga that unreels between wrenching collision and bittersweet separation celebrates the idiosyncratic ways wounded folk like Terry (Mark Ruffalo) and Sammy (Laura Linney) put one foot in front of the other, both energized and hamstrung by the knowledge that nothing is ever certain in the road-movie of life. During his visit, Terry roils Sammy's becalmed existence, mostly by "fathering"--for good and ill--her overprotected 8-year-old (Rory Culkin), sneaking him out to play empowering bar pool, later introducing him to the weaselly dad he's fantasized into a superhero. Sammy starts a torrid affair with her married boss at the bank (Matthew Broderick gives delicious bureaucratic smarm), and considers marrying her sometime suitor (Jon Tenney), sweetly dull yet dependable. The narrative peaks here are human-sized, elevated by gentle humor and clear-eyed faith in the existential importance of these intersecting small-town lives. Linney is simply superb as Sammy, wild girl gone good, involuntarily "mothering" every man in her life. An authentic original, newcomer Ruffalo gives his modern-day Huck Finn a drawling, James Dean delivery tuned somewhere between a screwup's whine and the twang of pothead wisdom. (Hard to think of another recent film that so deftly nails down the rich dynamics of everyday conversation--the starts and stops, circumlocutions, clichés, sudden veers into revelation and eloquence.) This is that rarity, an action movie of the heart: no explosions or epiphanies, yet everything evolves through the catalysts of character and experience. --Kathleen Murphy

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Real.......2007-01-04

Real people. Real vices. Real mistakes. Real talented actors. Real bad background music in final scene. Real never-ending struggles. Real good film. Really short review.

5 out of 5 stars Count of this film touching your heart..........2006-12-08

A pure and engaging story of redemption amongst family, `You Can Count on Me' tells the story of Sammy (Laura Linney) and Terry Prescott (Mark Ruffalo), siblings who lost their parents in a horrific car crash when they were still very young. Years later and Sammy is a single mother of 8-year-old Rudy (Rory Culkin), she works hard at her job at the bank, now run by over critical Brain Everett (Matthew Broderick), and she struggles with telling her son just how much of a jerk his father really is (Josh Lucas has a great cameo as Rudy Senior). When Terry shows up after months of no communication Sammy is immediately thrilled, but shortly after his arrival she realizes her brother is still a screw-up and is just using her, again.

Terry shows up in need of money to pay for his girlfriend's abortion, but when his girlfriend tries to commit suicide he decides he needs to take a break from his life and so he stays with Sammy and Rudy. Over the course of a few weeks Terry has made a deep impact, especially in the life of young Rudy who idolizes him. This film follows the changes each of these siblings make, changes in themselves but also changes they cause others to make. It's a beautiful story of redemption and acceptance and it shouldn't be missed. The performances by the two leads are outstanding, and young Rory Culkin is adorable and mature as Sammy's son, but the real shock to me was Matthew Broderick who played the demanding, philandering, unlikable type brilliantly, and he's not one I'm generally impressed with.

5 out of 5 stars Great thought provoking movie........2006-04-07

This was an excellent movie about the hardships of real life. Both Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney do marvelous jobs in their performances. Mark is great as the troubled brother with no ambition whatsoever while Laura is wonderful as his sister, but trying to be motherly as well. A great story - I highly recommend it!

3 out of 5 stars Unexpected ending.......2005-12-15

There is no end at all. Everything goes back to it's original stage. Sammy is a poor little woman without love, family or anything she ever knew she wants, makes she happy, even his son is a load on her back.
Who say this is real life ? This is a life people chose to live.

5 out of 5 stars An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known.......2005-12-13

This is one of the best films I've seen in quite a while -- beautifully written, acted, and directed -- and to top it off, there's a beautiful Catskills setting. This is a film about family relationships, but not one of those unpleasant films where people spend two hours fighting on screen and you end up not liking anyone. Instead, these are three dimensional people in a three dimensional family -- you get both the good and the bad from both.

The story begins when a couple are killed in a car accident, leaving two children orphaned. This is the pivotal event in the lives of these two characters. We are never told who raises the children we see crying at the funeral, but the story shifts to perhaps 20 years later.

Each of the orphans has their own struggles -- Laura Linney's character, Sammy, is a single mother with an 8 year old son who is living in the family home and working as a loan officer in the small town bank. Matthew Broderick plays her new boss -- a thorough cad (and his role is comparatively minor). Sammy's brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) comes to visit her, basically to borrow money but also because his own life is once more falling apart. He is a charming ne'er do well. His sister Sammy appears to have her life together, but it becomes apparent that she's not doing as well as she appears to be. Terry ends up connecting with Sammy's son Rudy (played by Rory Culkin), which is both good and bad, because of Terry's personality (as noted previously, he's a charming ne'er do well -- Rudy is attracted to him but can Terry be trusted not to be a bad influence?). Despite all their failings, you end up liking most of the characters in this film and know that despite it all, this family has love.

This is the kind of movie that you want to listen to the director's commentary on -- and I don't know why it didn't win an Oscar for the best screenplay.
Charlie Rose with Ed Rollins; Mark Ruffalo, Laura Linney & Kenneth Lonergan; Matt Blank, Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman & Hal Sparks (December 7, 2000)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Charlie Rose with Ed Rollins; Mark Ruffalo, Laura Linney & Kenneth Lonergan; Matt Blank, Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman & Hal Sparks (December 7, 2000)

    Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

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    ASIN: B000HBL7OU
    Release Date: 2006-08-15

    Description

    Political strategist and former Ronald Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins discusses the continuing legal battles over the disputed ballots in the Gore vs. Bush presidential election. Then, a conversation with director Kenneth Lonergan and actors Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo about their new film, You Can Count On Me, which follows the relationship of a grown brother and sister who were orphaned as children and is generating Oscar buzz. Finally, some members of the team behind Showtime's new series Queer As Folk, which focuses on the lives of a group of gay men and women living in Pittsburgh, talk about the controversy the show has sparked. They are Matt Blank, CEO of Showtime, executive producers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman and actor Hal Sparks.
    You Can Count on Me
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		You Can Count on Me
      Director: Kenneth Lonergan
      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

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      ASIN: B000JK77GQ

      Product Description

      A lot happens at once to Sammy, a single mom living in the Catskill town of her birth, where her parents died in a car crash when she was small. Her son Rudy, who's 8, begins imagining his unseen father as a hero; she picks up, sort of, with last year's boyfriend; she gets a new boss who imposes foolish rules; and, her wayward brother Terry arrives for a visit after months of no communication. The boyfriend proposes, the relationship with her boss takes an unexpected turn, and her brother and son bond, not always with positive consequences. When Terry asks young Rudy if he wants to meet his father, a crisis of sorts ensues, and brother and sister must re-frame their relationship
      You Can Count on Me [Region 2]
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • Real
      • Count of this film touching your heart...
      • Great thought provoking movie.
      • Unexpected ending
      • An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known
      		 You Can Count on Me [Region 2]

      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
      ( Y )( Y ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
      Used DVDsUsed DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
      Similar Items:
      1. XX/XY
      2. My Life Without Me
      3. We Don't Live Here Anymore
      4. In the Bedroom
      5. In the Cut (Unrated Director's Cut)

      ASIN: B00005TT2E

      Amazon.com

      You Can Count On Me starts with a terrible car crash that instantly orphans a little boy and his older sister. At film's end, that boy, now a grown-up nomad and ne'er-do-well, takes off by Greyhound after a brief reunion with his sister, who lives at permanent anchor in their unspoiled hometown. The sibling saga that unreels between wrenching collision and bittersweet separation celebrates the idiosyncratic ways wounded folk like Terry (Mark Ruffalo) and Sammy (Laura Linney) put one foot in front of the other, both energized and hamstrung by the knowledge that nothing is ever certain in the road-movie of life. During his visit, Terry roils Sammy's becalmed existence, mostly by "fathering"--for good and ill--her overprotected 8-year-old (Rory Culkin), sneaking him out to play empowering bar pool, later introducing him to the weaselly dad he's fantasized into a superhero. Sammy starts a torrid affair with her married boss at the bank (Matthew Broderick gives delicious bureaucratic smarm), and considers marrying her sometime suitor (Jon Tenney), sweetly dull yet dependable. The narrative peaks here are human-sized, elevated by gentle humor and clear-eyed faith in the existential importance of these intersecting small-town lives. Linney is simply superb as Sammy, wild girl gone good, involuntarily "mothering" every man in her life. An authentic original, newcomer Ruffalo gives his modern-day Huck Finn a drawling, James Dean delivery tuned somewhere between a screwup's whine and the twang of pothead wisdom. (Hard to think of another recent film that so deftly nails down the rich dynamics of everyday conversation--the starts and stops, circumlocutions, clichés, sudden veers into revelation and eloquence.) This is that rarity, an action movie of the heart: no explosions or epiphanies, yet everything evolves through the catalysts of character and experience. --Kathleen Murphy

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Real.......2007-01-04

      Real people. Real vices. Real mistakes. Real talented actors. Real bad background music in final scene. Real never-ending struggles. Real good film. Really short review.

      5 out of 5 stars Count of this film touching your heart..........2006-12-08

      A pure and engaging story of redemption amongst family, `You Can Count on Me' tells the story of Sammy (Laura Linney) and Terry Prescott (Mark Ruffalo), siblings who lost their parents in a horrific car crash when they were still very young. Years later and Sammy is a single mother of 8-year-old Rudy (Rory Culkin), she works hard at her job at the bank, now run by over critical Brain Everett (Matthew Broderick), and she struggles with telling her son just how much of a jerk his father really is (Josh Lucas has a great cameo as Rudy Senior). When Terry shows up after months of no communication Sammy is immediately thrilled, but shortly after his arrival she realizes her brother is still a screw-up and is just using her, again.

      Terry shows up in need of money to pay for his girlfriend's abortion, but when his girlfriend tries to commit suicide he decides he needs to take a break from his life and so he stays with Sammy and Rudy. Over the course of a few weeks Terry has made a deep impact, especially in the life of young Rudy who idolizes him. This film follows the changes each of these siblings make, changes in themselves but also changes they cause others to make. It's a beautiful story of redemption and acceptance and it shouldn't be missed. The performances by the two leads are outstanding, and young Rory Culkin is adorable and mature as Sammy's son, but the real shock to me was Matthew Broderick who played the demanding, philandering, unlikable type brilliantly, and he's not one I'm generally impressed with.

      5 out of 5 stars Great thought provoking movie........2006-04-07

      This was an excellent movie about the hardships of real life. Both Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney do marvelous jobs in their performances. Mark is great as the troubled brother with no ambition whatsoever while Laura is wonderful as his sister, but trying to be motherly as well. A great story - I highly recommend it!

      3 out of 5 stars Unexpected ending.......2005-12-15

      There is no end at all. Everything goes back to it's original stage. Sammy is a poor little woman without love, family or anything she ever knew she wants, makes she happy, even his son is a load on her back.
      Who say this is real life ? This is a life people chose to live.

      5 out of 5 stars An outstanding film -- I don't know why it's not better known.......2005-12-13

      This is one of the best films I've seen in quite a while -- beautifully written, acted, and directed -- and to top it off, there's a beautiful Catskills setting. This is a film about family relationships, but not one of those unpleasant films where people spend two hours fighting on screen and you end up not liking anyone. Instead, these are three dimensional people in a three dimensional family -- you get both the good and the bad from both.

      The story begins when a couple are killed in a car accident, leaving two children orphaned. This is the pivotal event in the lives of these two characters. We are never told who raises the children we see crying at the funeral, but the story shifts to perhaps 20 years later.

      Each of the orphans has their own struggles -- Laura Linney's character, Sammy, is a single mother with an 8 year old son who is living in the family home and working as a loan officer in the small town bank. Matthew Broderick plays her new boss -- a thorough cad (and his role is comparatively minor). Sammy's brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo) comes to visit her, basically to borrow money but also because his own life is once more falling apart. He is a charming ne'er do well. His sister Sammy appears to have her life together, but it becomes apparent that she's not doing as well as she appears to be. Terry ends up connecting with Sammy's son Rudy (played by Rory Culkin), which is both good and bad, because of Terry's personality (as noted previously, he's a charming ne'er do well -- Rudy is attracted to him but can Terry be trusted not to be a bad influence?). Despite all their failings, you end up liking most of the characters in this film and know that despite it all, this family has love.

      This is the kind of movie that you want to listen to the director's commentary on -- and I don't know why it didn't win an Oscar for the best screenplay.
      Election (1999) / You Can Count On Me (2000) (Double Feature)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Election (1999) / You Can Count On Me (2000) (Double Feature)
        Starring: Election , and You Can Count on Me
        Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
        ProductGroup: DVD
        Binding: DVD

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        ASIN: B000PHX5N2
        Release Date: 2007-08-07

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