By Chaos, Freelance WriterINDEPENDENT FILMS, despite sometimes iffy camera work, uneven editing and bad make-up, can be fun to watch. This was the case last Saturday at Redbones, the Blues Café's movie night, where You Can Count On Me was the movie showcased.
Writer-director Ken Lonergan's film stars Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick, Mark Ruffalo and Rory Culkin. It is a tale of two siblings, Sammy and Terry, played by Linney and Ruffalo respectively, who were orphaned as children and bring each other up.
Fast-forward a few years and the characteristics hinted at in childhood are now in full bloom.
Sammy is the responsible one, with an eight-year-old son and a steady job at a bank. Terry, always immature, is back in town after an unexplained two-year absence. Yet, things are not quite as they seem. Sammy is in a pseudo-relationship with someone she is not sure she cares for and who bores her, hates her new boss (Matthew Broderick) but sleeps with him anyway and is not great at interpersonal relationships, a trait she shares with Terry.
Her eight-year-old son, played by Rory Culkin, does not know his father and at first reacts to Terry with distrust as he re-enters his world. Soon, however, Terry fits into the role of a father figure in a way which shows how undependable he is, taking Rory to a pool hall, for example, but leading the child and the viewers to love him in the process. Sammy had closed the book on Rory's father as far as she is concerned, but Terry believes Rory should meet him. So, of course, he takes the boy and goes off, leading to one of my favourite scenes in the movie.
Terry goes up, knocks on the door, finally gets the father to come out and says:
"Rudy, meet Rudy." A somewhat predictable fight scenes ensues once Terry, who sounds like a 'stoner', loses his temper at the fact that Rudy Senior practically refuses to acknowledge his son's existence.
Laura Linney turns in a fine performance as Sammy, who attempts to deal with the disappointment that her brother has not changed, find some semblance of a love life, raise her son and even uses sex as a tool in office politics when forced to do so.
Broderick, as the smarmy, inefficient bank manager, shows why The Producers was such a Broadway hit last year and reminds of the range he displays in movies such as Ferris Bueller's Day Out and Election.
Lonergan, in a move that made this movie a very interesting watch, was much more concerned with people and their relationships, instead of heading to a grand climax. His direction gave a touch of verity, since the issues of everyday life very rarely have clear-cut answers, as we all struggle to deal with them.
He shows possibilities, but no solutions, emotions at play, everyday fears and desires things we can all relate to.
