You Can Count on Me 4K UHD (2000)

[50strat54]

Originally Posted by Juan de Internet

Been lurking on this website for something like a decade but this is my first post. So take my recommendation for what it's worth, but I'd like to encourage the folks who are thinking about blind buying this to take the plunge.

(Purely on the merits of the movie alone - I will be pre-ordering knowing nothing about the quality of the transfer.)

If you love Manchester By the Sea, there's a good chance you'll love this too - they have a lot in common. I agree that Manchester is Lonergan's masterpiece but if all he had ever made was You Can Count on Me he'd still be right up there with Mike Leigh.

I am probably biased for this movie, being the exact target audience for this story. But I suspect it's not so much that I see myself and my sister in these characters as that Lonergan captures something universal in their beautiful relationship. But David Edelstein said it better than I can in his review when the movie came out:

https://slate.com/culture/2000/11/counter-culture.html

Oh, and there's no shame in never having heard of this movie before. It doesn't have the lush cinematography of The Virgin Suicides; it's not avant garde or "foreign" (it was released by Paramount Classics); it doesn't plumb the emotional depths of Manchester; it reads like a filmed stage play, which, in a sense, it is. Neither was it obscure - it was nominated for Best Actress and Best Screenplay Oscars. That perfect amount of unremarkableness to make it semi-forgotten. Except by Criterion. Good on them.

This movie and Manchester are two very different films. I would say if you loved You Can Count On Me you might not love Manchester By The Sea.

You Can Count On Me reminds me a little bit of the tone in Election and interesting that Matthew Broderick is in both films.

Manchester, well after the fire the fun and games are over. That final scene where Casey and Michelle meet up again is one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen in my life. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, Dear Michelle this is the biggest robbery since Brinks. Should have won the Oscar, for this scene alone.

Well that’s my take on it. Glad it was finally released on 4K/bluray like a lot of Paramount titles I thought I’d never see released in HD. Came with my steel of To Catch A Thief.