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YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
I noticed that I had been watching a lot of Mark Ruffalo movies lately and that motivated a long overdue re-watch of one of his earlier efforts, a 2000 sleeper called You Can Count on Me that was probably one of Ruffalo's first significant roles and earned Laura Linney an Oscar nomination.
Linney plays Samantha, a tightly wound single mother who decides to return to the small town where she grew up to raise her son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), after being badly burned by Rudy's father. Samantha gets a job at a bank, goes to church every Sunday, and picks Rudy up from school every day at 3:15 (a chore that almost keeps her from getting hired at the bank) and seems to be enjoying the dull rut her life has become. Samantha gets excited when she gets a letter from her long lost brother, Terry (Ruffalo) saying he's coming for a visit.
Actor, writer and director Kenneth Lonergan has mounted what is essentially a dual character study of a brother and sister who are both miserable in very different ways and come to have a profound effect on each other's lives. As expected, Terry's visit turns out longer than he planned and becomes the reluctant father figure for Rudy that was not on his schedule, which has freed up Samantha to explore her inner trashy, manifesting itself in affairs with three different men, including her married boss (Matthew Broderick). You could see that one coming from a mile away though...the sexual tension between Samantha and her boss was immediate and off the chats.
What I love about this movie, and Lonergan has to be credited for a lot of this, is the relationship between Linney and Ruffalo up there onscreen as actual siblings. I've seen a lot of movies where actors are playing brother and sister, but they come off more like lovers than siblings, but that is not the case here...we believe from their very first moment onscreen together that these two are brother and sister. There isn't a lot of hugging and kissing between the two, but there is a genuine affection, not to mention the ability to speak to each other without filter. The scene in the restaurant where Terry confesses to Samantha that he spent some time in jail was beautifully performed and directed..I loved the way Linney's Samantha was screaming at her brother and either wasn't aware or didn't care. There was a sadness to it too though because apparently Samantha had some sugar coated memories regarding her brother that were immediately dashed when she got this news, further driven home by his confessing that he only came to visit to borrow money. The scene at the ATM where she's getting him the money also rings true...I love how Terry looks away while she's actually removing the money from the machine.
Linney's Oscar-nominated turn is fresh and fascinating, but I really forgot that Ruffalo is the one who makes this movie sparkle...this is a real movie star performance that just bounces off the screen and into your heart and most important of all, you never catch Ruffalo "acting"...the sign of a really great performance. Macauley's little brother is adorable as Rudy and Broderick and Jon Tenney also impress as the men in Samantha's life. Kenneth Lonergan's intelligent yet accessible screenplay and sensitive direction are the crowning touches on this underrated winner.
I noticed that I had been watching a lot of Mark Ruffalo movies lately and that motivated a long overdue re-watch of one of his earlier efforts, a 2000 sleeper called You Can Count on Me that was probably one of Ruffalo's first significant roles and earned Laura Linney an Oscar nomination.
Linney plays Samantha, a tightly wound single mother who decides to return to the small town where she grew up to raise her son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), after being badly burned by Rudy's father. Samantha gets a job at a bank, goes to church every Sunday, and picks Rudy up from school every day at 3:15 (a chore that almost keeps her from getting hired at the bank) and seems to be enjoying the dull rut her life has become. Samantha gets excited when she gets a letter from her long lost brother, Terry (Ruffalo) saying he's coming for a visit.
Actor, writer and director Kenneth Lonergan has mounted what is essentially a dual character study of a brother and sister who are both miserable in very different ways and come to have a profound effect on each other's lives. As expected, Terry's visit turns out longer than he planned and becomes the reluctant father figure for Rudy that was not on his schedule, which has freed up Samantha to explore her inner trashy, manifesting itself in affairs with three different men, including her married boss (Matthew Broderick). You could see that one coming from a mile away though...the sexual tension between Samantha and her boss was immediate and off the chats.
What I love about this movie, and Lonergan has to be credited for a lot of this, is the relationship between Linney and Ruffalo up there onscreen as actual siblings. I've seen a lot of movies where actors are playing brother and sister, but they come off more like lovers than siblings, but that is not the case here...we believe from their very first moment onscreen together that these two are brother and sister. There isn't a lot of hugging and kissing between the two, but there is a genuine affection, not to mention the ability to speak to each other without filter. The scene in the restaurant where Terry confesses to Samantha that he spent some time in jail was beautifully performed and directed..I loved the way Linney's Samantha was screaming at her brother and either wasn't aware or didn't care. There was a sadness to it too though because apparently Samantha had some sugar coated memories regarding her brother that were immediately dashed when she got this news, further driven home by his confessing that he only came to visit to borrow money. The scene at the ATM where she's getting him the money also rings true...I love how Terry looks away while she's actually removing the money from the machine.
Linney's Oscar-nominated turn is fresh and fascinating, but I really forgot that Ruffalo is the one who makes this movie sparkle...this is a real movie star performance that just bounces off the screen and into your heart and most important of all, you never catch Ruffalo "acting"...the sign of a really great performance. Macauley's little brother is adorable as Rudy and Broderick and Jon Tenney also impress as the men in Samantha's life. Kenneth Lonergan's intelligent yet accessible screenplay and sensitive direction are the crowning touches on this underrated winner.