Synopsis
Family first. Love always.
A single mother's life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely-seen younger brother returns to town.
2000 Directed by Kenneth Lonergan
A single mother's life is thrown into turmoil after her struggling, rarely-seen younger brother returns to town.
Martin Scorsese John Hart Jeffrey Sharp Barbara De Fina Larry Meistrich Morton Swinsky Steve Carlis Donald C. Carter
lonergan's always been especially good at finding emotional truth/clarity in the smallest of moments but there's a brief moment here where ruffalo's character terry, finally returning home after years of estrangement from his hometown, observes the local cemetery (where his parents are buried) just before the local town sign on his bus ride in that so simplistically yet vividly captures the fear of dying in a small town (also see: insignificance, laced with pity & regret) that i had to pause right there and take a break... i know the feeling too well because i've literally lived out this scene--my bus drives right by my grandparents grave anytime im forced to return to my hometown
movies am i right
This film looks and sounds like a stereotypical, sappy film that will try and pull your heartstrings. But only one man can make this film a heartfelt, genuine piece of cinema. That man is Kenneth Lonergan. Kenny is a filmmaker that tells the truth. He knows this life, he knows these people, he knows how to be genuine with his films. He makes films to tell the stories of people with baggage. Real people. People you would meet in real life. Ordinary people.
***This might contain spoilers***
Taking a little break from horror films… I realized on this viewing how similar the scene with Laura Linney asking her minister if she has sinned (by sleeping with her married boss) is to the police station scene in ‘Manchester By the Sea,’ when Casey Affleck gets off without any charges for the death of his children. Obviously, the circumstances in each film are completely different, with Linney’s scene played for comedy and Affleck’s for extreme drama, but this appears to be a particularly important type of scene for Lonergan. The guilt felt by both of these characters is shown to be excruciating to the point where they wish some form of authority would step in…
Astounding lead performances and a huge wallop of an ending. This is Mark Ruffalo's best performance and I don't know if he'll ever top it.
my most specific Little Cinema Pleasure is when matthew broderick randomly pops up in kenneth lonergan family dramas. distracting in a good way! :)
my most specific Little Cinema Pet Peeve is when directors cast themselves in speaking roles in their own movies despite their absence of any acting ability. distracting in a bad way! :(
you can count on kenneth lonergan to never be too heavy-handed with emotionally weighty material. even at the end i was like "ok here we go, someone is about to say 'you can count on me'" and no one does lol. i'm so moved by everyone's performances (linney/ruffalo/culkin specifically, and culkin more than i expected), but i especially cannot stop thinking about the scene where mark ruffalo's face suddenly crumples into a sob. mine did too.
This was a total treat. Manchester by the Sea obliterated my heart and put the pieces back together slowly. This film does the opposite, the more I got to know these characters the more I saw myself and my loved ones in them, and the further tougher the final scenes were. That my friends, is the sign of good writing.
Mark Ruffalo is a wonderful actor. It’s just that I’ve quite enjoyed poking fun at his Spotlight performance over the years. Good film, good performance but the “THEY KNEW AND THEY LET IT HAPPEN” scene always made me chuckle. Call me an asshole but the direction of that big scene left a lot to be desired. Kenneth Lonergan recognized where his…
80/100
Third viewing, last seen just prior to its U.S. theatrical release. Terry Prescott remains disturbingly familiar, right down to his bargain-bin t-shirts with their tiny holes and badly frayed collars. (I've at least reached the point where I replace the shirts when they get too ratty.) Had not remembered that J. Smith-Cameron played Sammy's co-worker who favors an "unprofessional" color palette on her computer, and somehow didn't even recognize the future Skandie winner who appears in the opening scene—an hour later, it was "Wait, why is there a picture of Amy Ryan on Sammy's bedside table?!" I suspect I was distracted by how "written" Doomed Mom's first line is; as noted below, I've never particularly cared for Lonergan's decision…
why watch manchester by the sea with casey affleck when you could watch this kenneth lonergan drama about a man who is traumatized by his hometown starring peak mark ruffalo? 😌
The "someone comes back home and disrupts everyone's lives" genre of indie film is a pox and given us many of the worst films ever. But it also gave us this.
This movie had a seismic effect on me in 2000, my first year of film school. We thought Ruffalo was gonna be the next Brando. It inspired me to write my first terrible screenplay. I still think about it whenever I write any script.
"Put on your seatbelt."
"It pushes on my neck."
"What?"
"It pushes on my neck, it's uncomfortable."
"Well, when someone slams into us and you go sailing through the windshield, that's liable to be uncomfortable too. Now put on your seatbelt."
"Mom's parents died in a car accident."
"Yeah I know, they're my parents too."
"They are?"
"Yeah. Your mom's my sister."
"Yeah, I know."
"So that means we have the same parents."
"Oh yeah."
Is a perfect scene about nothing.
Is there any relationship as complex, as nuanced, as adult siblings? You share the same starting point, the same childhood and the same formative early events. For that reason you're also the only ones who can really chart the whole journey, who can track how we've become who we are. And yet those endpoints can still end up in such different places for seemingly inexplicable reasons.
I think You Can Count On Me captures that complexity better than most anything I've seen. The responsible Linney and the fuckup Ruffalo - arguably both better than ever, in my opinion - show the full range of what that relationship holds: the understanding, the insecurities, the resentment, the concern, the pity, and the…
Oh man this film is kind of painful. It basically proposes that not-so-secret thing we all know but kind of hope isn’t true - life’s REALLY hard. And it’s hard however you live it. Laura Linney sticks around in her childhood hometown and worries she’s turning into a clone of her parents and an insignificant white dot, while brother Mark Ruffalo resents the place and has been out exploring the wide world but is completely broke and totally alone. Also both their parents were killed when they were kids, giving off this feeling of unintentional abandonment and how the two of them have to rely on each other to develop and live. Except they’re totally different people. Lonergan’s really good…
O kadar tatlı ki.. Şarkılar , oyunculuklar , çekim o kadar doğaldı ki ..
Aile ilişkisi ustaca yansıtılmış ve tüm duygular gerçek bir formda aktarilmis . Oldukça beğendim , bence izleyin ..
Holy shit this is a gem. Cannot believe I had never heard of it. A new favorite for me.
There’s some great acting and some really solid character work. I had this weird dilemma where the flaws of the characters make them very human and very realistic, but also at times made me really dislike them. They made some stupid ass choices and for me it got to a point where I started to like them less.
Worth watching for Mark and Rory alone tho. Loved their duo
Kenneth Lonergan really gets the best out of his actors. I'm not sure if Linney or Ruffalo have ever been better?
Lonergan has directed three films since the year 2000. I can't help but think if he had worked more frequently over the last 20 years, he would be one of the most accomplished filmmakers alive. Nobody makes a fan drama like this man.
Powerhouse performances from Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. Kenneth Lonergan is so good at writing family drama that doesn't sugarcoat the inherent ugliness or joy of the subject matter, it just is what it is
The relationship between Linney and Ruffalo is very touching, as is the one between Ruffalo and Culkin. Broderick is great comedic relief.
Certifies Kenneth Lonergan as a GOAT to me. Instantly fell into all of the characters and their small town world. The conflicts feel so real, grounded, and organic - something Lonergan excels at. He’s said in an interview that daily life is full of drama (something like that) and you can absolutely feel that feeling of his in all of his films. Mark Ruffalo has never been better, but the cast as a whole deserves praise.
It’s kind of a shame he’s only made 3 movies, but I assume that carefully crafted, realistically crushing dramas like these take a lot of time. So I’ll patiently wait for whatever’s next.
I knew, from the very beginning, that Rudy (Rory Culkin) was going to pour that whole bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s on his two tiny pancakes. Frankly, I’m relieved he didn’t set fire to his mom’s bedroom. What is that look in his eye anyway? Girl, keep that kid happy or he’ll quietly cut your brake lines right before you have to drive your ass to work to give your adorably uptight Matthew Broderick boss a blowie on your lunch break. But I’d contemplate something devious too if you kinda forced my cute AF Mark Ruffalo uncle away. Uncle doesn’t even do drugs! He just wanted to beat the crap outta my deadbeat “dad” for being such a deadbeat. (Sorry Josh Lucas.) But WE’RE ALL GONNA BE FINE because it’s the early 2000s and the Great Recession hasn’t hit yet—Something, something, something, Yo-Yo Ma plays the Bach cello suites…
laura linney had the market cornered on moderately successful women with brothers that mess things up back in the early aughts
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