You Can Count on Me

reviewed Sat, 18 Nov 2000

A sweet, plain-spoken movie, You Can Count on Me is understated, well written, and wonderfully acted. Drifting slacker Terry (Mark Ruffalo) comes home to visit his sister Sammy (Laura Linney) in a small town that stifled him but is comfortably familiar for her. She's the "good" sibling -- she's raising a son on her own, has been in the same job for nine years, and provides the anchor for her wayward brother, but you can see her eyes light up with vicarious thrills as he tells her about his travels and troubles. His visit pulls him a little closer to the straight and narrow while tugging his sister into some wildness of her own.

Ruffalo is charming as the prodigal brother, and he works especially well with Rory Culkin (yes, one of those Culkins, but evidently he hasn't learned any bad acting habits from his brothers yet), who plays Sammy's son Rudy. Matthew Broderick has an entertaining role as Sammy's uptight, nitpicking boss (he even complains that the employees' color palettes on their computer screens are too vibrant). Linney herself reveals depths unheralded in her previous work in such oeuvres as Congo and Primal Fear.

The film is a moving, observant, nuanced look at family ties, but it's also quite funny. Definitely recommended.

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