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If Nothing Else, "You Can Count On Me" Proves That Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

By Ed Bagley

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 14Apr2011 Word count: 630 Viewed: 120 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

You Can Count on Me - 1 Star (Terrible)

It is a good thing that I review movies, otherwise, you would never know the unspoken side of "You Can Count on Me", written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan.

Lonergan, you will recall, helped write the story for "Analyze This" and helped write the characters for "Analyze That" (both starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal). He also helped write the screenplay for "Gangs of New York" (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz).

Lonergan wrote the whole enchilada for You Can Count on Me, and by almost all accounts had a very successful result. His screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and as a first-time director, his leading lady (Laura Linney as Samantha "Sammy" Prescott) garnered an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. Both were nominated in the same categories for Golden Globe Awards.

The film picked up another 27 wins and 22 nominations, including co-winner of the Grand Jury Prize and winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.

Ninety-six reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes gave it an outstanding 95% rating, with such commentary as "a heartbreaking and heartwarming snapshot of family life", "a wonderful film" and "pleasing to watch".

Am I surprised by how well Count on Me did? Nah, not really. Hollywood types and Hollywood fans love movies that conveniently include drinking, drugs, sex, infidelity, poor judgment and lack of self-control. They revel in it; they can't get enough of it.

You Can Count on Me did get some solid acting performances from Mark Ruffalo (as Sammy's brother Terry Prescott) and Matthew Broderick (as Sammy's boss Brian Everett).

That said, the people who really gushed over this film were not watching the same film I was watching.

In my view, writer/director Kenneth Lonergan did not do a good job of identifying and defining the characters early on (too stiff and too subtle), or setting the stage and developing the story with more coherence (sending a message worth seeing).

If you like the f-word, infidelity, angry outbursts, smoking pot, abusive treatment, self-centeredness, instant gratification and a host of other bad, unproductive habits, then open a bottle of wine and sit back, because you will love You Can Count on Me.

The film could have been more appropriately titled "You Can Never Count on Me". The majority of characters in this film start out dysfunctional, undesirable and disgusting, and by the end of the film, they are all dysfunctional, undesirable and disgusting.

None of them does anything of consequence to help themselves out of their self-chosen way of life. As a result, the characters go nowhere, and we are left with a bunch of sorry people who will only become sorrier the longer they live.

In essence, I would not watch this film again if you paid me, and I was not a better person for having watched it the first time. It contributed absolutely nothing to the viewer when the writer could have offered a positive turnaround for a bunch of screwed up people.

So, am I nuts to think this film is terrible? You decide. But first some facts. You Can Count on Me had a limited release in 2000 and generated $8 million at the box office - that means the majority of moviegoers figured out just how unappealing this film was and ignored it big time.

Compare the angst-ridden You Can Count on Me with another drama released in 2000 - Cast Away with Tom Hanks that grossed $234 million and, like Count on Me, received two Oscar nominations. Even with Tom Hanks, Cast Away was not THAT big of a deal either, but at least it pulled in $234 million.

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