You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 26, 2025

Kenneth Lonergan's "You Can Count on Me" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Kenneth Lonergan; new program with Matthew Broderick, Laura Linney, and Mark Ruffalo; vintage trailer; and archival audio commentary. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

A rational individual would not count on the main characters in Kenneth Lonergan’s film. After engaging them, a rational person would need less than ten minutes to conclude that they are walking models of the contemporary, dysfunctional, utterly unreliable American male and female.

Two of these characters are middle-aged siblings who have lost their parents in a terrible accident some years ago. Even though they have been permanently scarred, both have moved on and successfully rebuilt their lives. Sort of. Sammy (Laura Linney), now in her forties, is a single mother employed as a loan officer at a small bank somewhere in upstate New York. She enjoys looking after her eight-year-old son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), but most of the time feels lonely and miserable. She has a boyfriend (Jon Tenney), who genuinely loves her, but their relationship has survived only because there have been no other attractive alternatives.

Sammy’s brother, Terry (Mark Ruffalo), is a wanderer, troublemaker, and occasionally a construction worker. He has not lived in the same area for a long time because he is unable to tolerate the heavy presence of the past, which reminds him of what could have been had his parents not perished in the accident. He has also clashed with Sammy’s ex-husband (Josh Lucas), also a troublemaker, who is still in the area, living with another woman.

At approximately the same time Sammy welcomes Terry, who has unexpectedly reappeared to borrow money and visit his ex-girlfriend, she also meets her new boss, Brian (Matthew Broderick), an unapologetic pragmatic with big plans for the small bank. And as Terry quickly begins creating unnecessary drama in his sister’s seemingly perfectly organized life, Brian begins melting her heart. Terry then asks her boyfriend to give her more time to decide whether to accept his engagement ring, while Brian unleashes his creative powers to manufacture perfect excuses to spend even less time around his heavily pregnant wife. After years of being told lies, Rudy also meets his father, who angrily walks away from him.

That You Can Count on Me does not have a proper beginning and end is hardly surprising because it is conceived and shot as a slice of reality, which is the only way films like it can be made to appear authentic. Unfortunately, the slice of reality it sells is, at best, mediocre. Indeed, there is nothing that makes being in the company of its characters attractive, and there is nothing that is in any way illuminating or memorable. Also, some pretty large chunks of this reality are strikingly unrealistic.

The most consequential flaw is Lonergan’s desire to ignore what appear to be the most intriguing relationships. For example, little Rudy’s disappointing encounter with his father could have been the domino piece that creates a lot of interesting overlapping of past and present events, expanding the drama in new directions. Instead, Lonergan spends too much time exploring the entirely trivial ‘romantic relationship’ between Sammy and her boss. Also, what has happened between Sammy and her boyfriend to make the latter want to wait for her final decision on his marriage proposal?

In the end, You Can Count on Me only manages to convince that its supposedly adult characters are lonely and miserable because they have not grown up and deserve to be. One of them, despite being an unapologetic pragmatic, is soon to be the father of a child that is destined to be exactly like little Rudy, too.

You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, You Can Count on Me arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:

"Supervised and approved by director Kenneth Lonergan, this new 4K restoration was created from a 35mm interpositive, and a 35mm archival print was used as color reference. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from 1/2-inch magnetic printmaster.

Mastering supervisor: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood.
Colorist: Michel Hassidim/Ressilion, New York.
Image restoration: Resilion.
Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection."

The 4K restoration is also available on 4K Blu-ray in this combo pack release. I viewed it in native 4K and later spent time with the 1080p presentation of it on the Blu-ray.

The native 4K and 1080p presentations are equally satisfying. The film has a unique appearance, and in various parts of it, delineation, clarity, and depth fluctuate in ways that create softness that looks identical on both presentations. There are no significant discrepancies in the dynamic range of visuals either. Darker areas, whether viewed with Dolby Vision/HDR in native 4K or without in 1080p, look virtually identical as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report, though on my system, I thought that the native 4K presentation had a slightly more attractive, tighter appearance. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film in native 4K and later spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray. The comments below are from our review of the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack release.

You Can Count on Me does not have an active soundtrack, creating a lot of interesting dynamic contrasts. Lesley Barber's music has only a supportive role, too. All exchanges are very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review.

You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Kenneth Lonergan in 2001. Lonergan discusses how various sequences were shot, the evolving relationships of the main characters (and why they act and react as they do), some interesting editing choices that were made, the use of music, etc.

• Kenneth Lonergan - in this new program, Kenneth Lonergan discusses his background and recalls his work on You Can Count on Me. The program was produced by Criterion in February 2025. In English, not subtitled. (26 min).

• An Area We Ought to Explore: The Cast on "You Can Count on Me" - in this new program, Matthew Broderick, Laura Linney, and Mark Ruffalo discuss their careers and collaboraiton on You Can Count on Me. The program was produced by Criterion in 2025. In English, not subtitled. (27 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for You Can Count on Me. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Booklet - a 34-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by playwright Rebecca Gilman, the script of the original one-act play, and technical credits.

You Can Count on Me Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

People like the main characters in You Can Count on Me are destined to spend the majority of their lives miserable because they constantly invent good reasons to blame something or someone else for what they have become. Twenty-five years later, social media has dramatically expanded their arsenal of good reasons, age brackets, and multiplied them, too. Their stories and the drama in them are very predictable because, eventually, both reveal that they are simply not rational and disciplined adults. Criterion's release introduces a good new 4K makeover of You Can Count on Me, supervised and approved by Kenneth Lonergan.