You Can Count on Me

A-

A well-made character study centered around a single mother in a small town in upstate New York (though everyone seems to listen to country music; hope you like Steve Earle). The son is played well by Rory Culkin (if there are enough Culkins, it's like McCauley will never get old). Rory has the same appeal as his brother but this is a more serious role even though it is minimized enough that a kids' lack of acting skill doesn't mess up the movie. Laura Linney is the mother who has a hard time knowing exactly what she wants out of life. She is very happy to be visited by her younger brother who is sort of a modern day hippie (hair is shorter and he shaves). Meanwhile she is dating a guy she's not sure she wants to marry and having to deal with a tight-ass new boss at the bank played by Matthew Broderick.

That's the setup, but it is also essentially the whole movie. For the rest of the time you get to know these characters and see how they interact. The writing is very good and avoids taking sides with anyone. Everyone (except Broderick) is likable enough so there are no obvious bad guys (and even Broderick isn't too bad, he's just a tight-ass). The acting is also good and Laura Linney does a good job with her very substantial role. The brother, Terry, is also played perfectly by a guy I can't imagine is anything but exactly like the guy he plays. He just does a great job with it. In one scene they show him sitting in a bathtub just thinking (no voiceover, just the faucet dripping). And he nails it! No one has ever done such a good job of playing a guy just thinking in the bathtub before.

This movie won some awards at Sundance. In fact it is tailor made for Sundance. It's so Sundance that it's almost a formula. You can just see the young independent filmmakers writing this (interesting note: the writer-director also plays the minister). So if you like that type of movie you'll really like this. But if you're looking for a lot of plot or action, don't bother. I enjoyed it from start to finish but still felt like there should have been more to it. With Sundance movies it seems like there is always a lot of promise, but not much of a payoff.

Good acting, writing, directing. I'll give it an A-.

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