Our take
Written and directed by Academy-Award-winning Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea, Gangs of New York), you can certainly count on the qualities of this subtle, beautiful, and moving drama about two siblings growing apart and reuniting later in life.
An Academy-Award-nominated Laura Linney plays Sammy, a single mother in a small town who is extremely protective of her 8-year-old son. When her younger and somewhat troubled brother Terry (played by the ever-reliable Mark Ruffalo) visits her out of the blue, Sammy has to deal with a slew of contradicting emotions towards her brother, whose appearance threatens to upend her life as she knew it.
Straight, thoughtful, and beautifully crafted, You Can Count on Me is an honest and genuine exploration of unconditional love in celluloid form. Think of it as much more hopeful The Skeleton Twins.
What it won
Oscars
2 noms
Venice
1 nom
Golden Globes
2 noms
SAG Awards
1 nom
Spirit Awards
2 wins · 3 noms
Sundance
2 wins
WGA
1 win
Nat. Board of Review
2 wins
NYFCC
2 wins
LAFCA
2 wins · 1 nom
The story
A single mother's life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely-seen younger brother returns to town.
Elsewhere
"Unusually sharp editing is the first hint that in fact it's a superior, acutely observed comedy-drama about family ties and the struggle to find a sense of purpose, even managing to work in some genuinely metaphysical intimations."
— Gavin Smith
The details
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
I wasn’t expecting much going into this, and while the story might seem “small”, there is much more to this movie than meets the eye. Fantastic acting, especially from Mark Ruffalo. I loved it.
I like both Mark Ruffalo and Laura Linney but not a fan at all of this movie…