You Can Count on Me

A film set in a small town in New York state. Sammy works at a bank, lives with her eight-year-old son Rudy and keeps an orderly life. She grew up in the same town, lives in the same house and does not go out much. Her brother Terry has been away for years. He sends a letter and arrives; it becomes clear quickly that he has come to ask for money. The two lost their parents in the same accident as children. Sammy chose to stay and Terry to leave, and since then every meeting turns into the same argument. Terry stays a while. He gets on with Rudy; the boy does not know his father and attaches himself to his uncle. At the same time there is a knot in Sammy's own life: a relationship begins with the new manager at the bank and she tells nobody. What the film is interested in is not large events but two siblings who love each other and cannot bear each other. The narrative takes no side and offers nobody a solution. Laura Linney plays Sammy, Mark Ruffalo plays Terry and Matthew Broderick the manager. Kenneth Lonergan directed and wrote it; it is his first film. It won the grand prize at Sundance and was nominated for an Academy Award for its screenplay. A strong production for anyone who likes character drama and independent films built on dialogue. For a viewer looking for plot, the film stays inside ordinary life.