You Can Count on Me

You Can Count on Me

You Can Count on Me

Yay. With the PATHETIC Oscar backlash against independent films this year, I'm SO relieved this one squeaked into the nominations. It is THE BEST FILM I've seen this year. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Mark Ruffalo is SO FUNNY that I was CRYING. Dude,...WHY is this movie not nominated for more Oscars??? The writing is absolute genius and it's so beautifully acted that I get tingles just thinking about it. This is a slice-of-life movie of the HIGHEST QUALITY. It's so real and sad that I KNOW that it's going to end up on my "favorites" list for a REALLY long time.

I don't know where to begin to describe how much this movie stinks. The soundtrack was intrusive, the acting wooden, the characters uninteresting, and the plot -- where it existed -- unbelievable. The guy at the video store said we'd love it but I can't believe he saw the same movie.

Sorry if this sounds a bit crude, but the biggest compliment I could make to "You Can Count On Me" is that I sat through the entire length of the movie, utterly enthralled, even though my bladder was near bursting point from the beginning of the movie. That's how good it is. I guess the reason that so many IMDB reviewers wrote so favorably about YCCOM is that it is a truthful, straight forward movie, neither main stream nor art house, something which Hollywood these days seems unable to deliver.

Films such as these don't come along very often. A real laid back treat. Character is allowed to dominate. there's very little plot, and certainly no action. The main 3 protagonists are all very good, and the film never goes for the sentimental cop-out. Perhaps in our contemporary world we downgrade the importance of family. This film perhaps reminds us of it's importance and benefits.

It was 30 minutes into this slow-moving, plotless epic before the identity of the two main characters was confirmed. This was a hopeless film that never went anywhere. The next day I went on IMDB to see how it was rated and I was shocked to see the viewers high evaluation and read the glowing comments. Maybe someone at the video rental place slipped in another tape?

I'm not kidding, everyone is doing very wonderful realistic acting, beautifully serving the script, and along comes Ferris Beuller doing his quasi Jackie Gleason "I'll getta laugh on this line!" schtick. Thankfully, his role is brief, and soon we get back to the real actors. Linney and Ruffalo shine and Culkin is wonderful and touching. The writing is superb, and apparently the writer/director also played the priest- and steals the scene he's in! This is a wonderful throwback to the character driven dramas of the early 70's, it's not filmed in a particularly interesting way, but the script and the actors- well, most of them- elevate it to heights that few movies achieved last year. Well worth seeing.

Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo shine in this human drama with good production values. The film has some things to say too, in terms of adultery, communicating with young children, and brother-sister relationships, but the film feels like it is oversimplifying its issues at times. There is nothing too complex about the film, which makes it feel ordinary and empty at times too. And it is rather slow. But for some good characters, some interesting issues and above all top quality acting, it is a worthwhile watch. It deservedly was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.