You Can Count on Me
Encyclopedia
You Can Count on Me is a 2000 American drama film
starring Laura Linney
, Mark Ruffalo
, Rory Culkin
, and Matthew Broderick
. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan
, it tells the story of Sammy, a single mother living in a small town, and her complicated relationships with family and friends. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards
at the 73rd Academy Awards
: Best Actress for Linney and Best Original Screenplay.
The story takes place in the fictionalized Catskill
communities of Scottsville and Auburn, New York.While there is an actual Scottsville, New York
and Auburn, New York
, they are further west in the Finger Lakes
region. The film was primarily shot in and around Margaretville, New York
.
), a single mother and lending officer
at a bank, still lives in her childhood home in Scottsville, New York
, while Terry (Mark Ruffalo
) has drifted around the country, scraping by and getting in and out of trouble.
After months of no communication with his sister, Terry is desperate for money, so he comes to visit her and her son Rudy (Rory Culkin
) who are excited about reuniting with him. Sammy lends him the money, which he mails back to his girlfriend. After the girlfriend attempts suicide, he decides to extend his stay with his sister, which she welcomes.
For a school writing assignment, Rudy imagines his unknown father as a fantastic hero. Sammy only gives him vague descriptions of the truth while Terry lets his feelings be known about Rudy Sr.'s abandonment. Sammy rekindles a relationship with an old boyfriend, but is surprised when he proposes
to her after a short time. She needs time to consider it.
At the bank, Brian (Matthew Broderick
), the new manager
, tries to make his mark with unusual demands about computer color scheme
s and daily timesheet
s. He is particularly tough on Sammy, requesting that she make arrangements for someone else to pick up her son from the school bus rather than leaving work. After some minor arguments, they end up having an affair, despite Brian's wife being six months pregnant.
Terry grows close to Rudy during their time together. Yet he pushes the limits of Sammy's parental control during a late-night game of pool at a bar. She turns to her minister (Kenneth Lonergan
) to counsel Terry about his outlook on life. He resists his sister's advice but stays on good terms with his nephew. Realizing her own questionable decisions, Sammy turns down her boyfriend's marriage proposal and breaks off her relationship with Brian.
After a day of fishing
, Terry and Rudy decide to visit Rudy Sr. in the town of Auburn. Confronted by his past, Rudy Sr. (Josh Lucas
) is incensed, leading Terry to assault
him and get arrested.
Sammy brings her brother and son home and asks Terry to move out, which he does the next day. He plans to go back to Alaska and scoffs at Sammy's suggestion to remain in town and get his life back on track. At first, it appears the separation will be another heartache, but they reconcile before Terry leaves, coming to terms with their individual life styles.
in the Catskill Mountains
circa June 1999 (posters for Margaretville's 4th of July "Field Days" can be seen in shop windows).
While the bank exteriors were filmed at Margaretville's NBT bank, the interiors were filmed in another bank closer to New York City
since NBT considered interior filming a security risk.
The scenes where Rudy Jr. walks home in the rain were filmed with the assistance of the Margaretville Fire Department which used their trucks and hoses to create the rain.
Many outdoor scenes away from the Village—most notably the fishing trip—were filmed in Phoenicia, New York
. The cemetery seen in the film is not the Village's—which cannot be seen from the road—rather it is a smaller cemetery four miles outside the village on Route 30.
Boston Society of Film Critics Award (2000)
Humanitas Prize (2001)
Independent Spirit Awards (2001)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (2000)
Montreal World Film Festival (2000)
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (2000)
National Society of Film Critics Awards (2001)
New York Film Critics Circle Awards (2000)
Satellite Awards (2001)
Sundance Film Festival (2000)
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2000)
Writers Guild of America Award (2001)
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
, Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
, Rory Culkin
Rory Culkin
Rory Hugh Culkin is an American actor and is the younger brother of actors Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.-Personal life:...
, and Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Kenneth Lonergan
Kenneth Lonergan is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director.-Background and education:Born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School .His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Young Playwright's Festival in...
, it tells the story of Sammy, a single mother living in a small town, and her complicated relationships with family and friends. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
at the 73rd Academy Awards
73rd Academy Awards
The 73rd Academy Awards honored the best films of 2000 and was held on March 25, 2001. It was the last Academy Awards to take place at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium...
: Best Actress for Linney and Best Original Screenplay.
The story takes place in the fictionalized Catskill
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
communities of Scottsville and Auburn, New York.While there is an actual Scottsville, New York
Scottsville, New York
Scottsville is a village in southwestern Monroe County, New York, United States, and is in the northeastern part of the Town of Wheatland. The population was 2,128 at the 2000 census. The village is named after an early settler, Isaac Scott...
and Auburn, New York
Auburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...
, they are further west in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
region. The film was primarily shot in and around Margaretville, New York
Margaretville, New York
Margaretville is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 643 at the 2000 census.The Village of Margaretville is in the Town of Middletown. The village is on the border of the Catskill Park...
.
Plot
As children, Sammy and Terry Prescott lost their parents to a car accident. Years later, Sammy (Laura LinneyLaura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
), a single mother and lending officer
Loan officer
A loan officer is a person who serves as an intermediary between lending institutions and borrowers. They solicit loans, represent creditors to borrowers, and represent borrowers to creditors....
at a bank, still lives in her childhood home in Scottsville, New York
Scottsville, New York
Scottsville is a village in southwestern Monroe County, New York, United States, and is in the northeastern part of the Town of Wheatland. The population was 2,128 at the 2000 census. The village is named after an early settler, Isaac Scott...
, while Terry (Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
) has drifted around the country, scraping by and getting in and out of trouble.
After months of no communication with his sister, Terry is desperate for money, so he comes to visit her and her son Rudy (Rory Culkin
Rory Culkin
Rory Hugh Culkin is an American actor and is the younger brother of actors Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.-Personal life:...
) who are excited about reuniting with him. Sammy lends him the money, which he mails back to his girlfriend. After the girlfriend attempts suicide, he decides to extend his stay with his sister, which she welcomes.
For a school writing assignment, Rudy imagines his unknown father as a fantastic hero. Sammy only gives him vague descriptions of the truth while Terry lets his feelings be known about Rudy Sr.'s abandonment. Sammy rekindles a relationship with an old boyfriend, but is surprised when he proposes
Proposal of marriage
A marriage proposal is an event where one person in a relationship asks for the other's hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement. It often has a ritual quality, sometimes involving the presentation of an engagement ring and a formalized asking of a question such as "Will...
to her after a short time. She needs time to consider it.
At the bank, Brian (Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
), the new manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, tries to make his mark with unusual demands about computer color scheme
Color scheme
In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For example, the use of a white background with black text is an example of a basic and commonly default color scheme in web design....
s and daily timesheet
Timesheet
A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a worker's time spent on each job.-Use:Originally developed for an employer to determine payroll, timesheets are not just for payroll any more. Timesheets may record the start and end time of tasks, or just the duration. It may contain a...
s. He is particularly tough on Sammy, requesting that she make arrangements for someone else to pick up her son from the school bus rather than leaving work. After some minor arguments, they end up having an affair, despite Brian's wife being six months pregnant.
Terry grows close to Rudy during their time together. Yet he pushes the limits of Sammy's parental control during a late-night game of pool at a bar. She turns to her minister (Kenneth Lonergan
Kenneth Lonergan
Kenneth Lonergan is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director.-Background and education:Born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, Lonergan began writing in high school at the Walden School .His first play, The Rennings Children, was chosen for the Young Playwright's Festival in...
) to counsel Terry about his outlook on life. He resists his sister's advice but stays on good terms with his nephew. Realizing her own questionable decisions, Sammy turns down her boyfriend's marriage proposal and breaks off her relationship with Brian.
After a day of fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, Terry and Rudy decide to visit Rudy Sr. in the town of Auburn. Confronted by his past, Rudy Sr. (Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas
Josh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...
) is incensed, leading Terry to assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
him and get arrested.
Sammy brings her brother and son home and asks Terry to move out, which he does the next day. He plans to go back to Alaska and scoffs at Sammy's suggestion to remain in town and get his life back on track. At first, it appears the separation will be another heartache, but they reconcile before Terry leaves, coming to terms with their individual life styles.
Cast
- Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
as Samantha "Sammy" Prescott - Mark RuffaloMark RuffaloMark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
as Terry Prescott - Matthew BroderickMatthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
as Brian Everett - Jon Tenney as Bob Steegerson
- Rory CulkinRory CulkinRory Hugh Culkin is an American actor and is the younger brother of actors Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.-Personal life:...
as Rudy Prescott - J. Smith-CameronJ. Smith-CameronJ. Smith-Cameron is an American actress.Smith-Cameron was born Jean Isabel Smith in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of architect Richard Sharpe Smith. She was raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and attended Florida State University where she was enrolled in the School of Theatre...
as Mabel - Josh LucasJosh LucasJosh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...
as Rudy (Kolinsky) Sr. - Gaby HoffmannGaby HoffmannGabriella Mary "Gaby" Hoffmann is an American actress.-Birth:Hoffmann was born in New York City. Her mother, Viva , is an actress and writer and appeared in many of Andy Warhol's movies during the 1960s...
as Sheila Seidleman (Terry's girlfriend) - Adam LeFevreAdam LeFevreAdam LeFevre is an American character actor, poet and playwright who works in cinema, television, theater and commercials....
as Sheriff Darryl - Kenneth Lonergan as Ron (the priest)
- Nina GarbirasNina GarbirasNina Garbiras is a United States actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Alexandra Brill in Fox Television's series The Street, Beth Greenway in the Showtime series Leap Years and Andrea Little on the first season of NBC's Boomtown...
as Nancy Everett - Kim Parker as Rudy Sr.'s girlfriend
Production
The film was primarily shot in and around Margaretville, New YorkMargaretville, New York
Margaretville is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 643 at the 2000 census.The Village of Margaretville is in the Town of Middletown. The village is on the border of the Catskill Park...
in the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
circa June 1999 (posters for Margaretville's 4th of July "Field Days" can be seen in shop windows).
While the bank exteriors were filmed at Margaretville's NBT bank, the interiors were filmed in another bank closer to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
since NBT considered interior filming a security risk.
The scenes where Rudy Jr. walks home in the rain were filmed with the assistance of the Margaretville Fire Department which used their trucks and hoses to create the rain.
Many outdoor scenes away from the Village—most notably the fishing trip—were filmed in Phoenicia, New York
Phoenicia, New York
Phoenicia is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 381 at the 2000 census.Phoenicia is located in the northeast part of Town of Shandaken, on Route 28. It is the largest community in the town...
. The cemetery seen in the film is not the Village's—which cannot be seen from the road—rather it is a smaller cemetery four miles outside the village on Route 30.
Awards
AFI Fest (2000)- Best New Writer
- New Directions Award
Boston Society of Film Critics Award (2000)
- Best New Filmmaker
Humanitas Prize (2001)
- Feature Film Category
Independent Spirit Awards (2001)
- Best First Feature
- Best Screenplay
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (2000)
- Best Screenplay
- New Generation Award: Mark RuffaloMark RuffaloMark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
Montreal World Film Festival (2000)
- Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention
- Best Actor: Mark RuffaloMark RuffaloMark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (2000)
- Special Achievement Award
National Society of Film Critics Awards (2001)
- Best Screenplay
- Best Actress: Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
New York Film Critics Circle Awards (2000)
- Best Screenplay
- Best Actress: Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
Satellite Awards (2001)
- Best Screenplay, Original
Sundance Film Festival (2000)
- Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2000)
- Best Actress: Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
- Best Screenplay
Writers Guild of America Award (2001)
- Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen