You Can Count on Me

A Screenplay

Author: Kenneth Lonergan Series: Vintage

Acclaimed playwright Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me is one of the most highly praised independent films of recent years, earning many of the major screenplay awards. This is the lovingly drawn story of a sister and brother's complicated, fragile, but somehow enduring bond. Sammy and Terry Prescott were orphaned as children. Sammy, now the single mother of a young son, has stayed in their hometown and is an officer at the local bank. Terry has become something of a drifter, surfacing only when he needs money. Sammy's own life has its complications: she puts off an old boyfriend's proposal and begins an affair with her new boss. Together in their family home, Terry's charming irresponsibility collides with Sammy's confusion over her own actions. What remains unspoken is what they've known since they were left with only each other sixteen years before.

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Acclaimed playwright Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me is one of the most highly praised independent films of recent years, earning many of the major screenplay awards.This is the lovingly drawn story of a sister and brother's complicated, fragile, but somehow enduring bond. Sammy and Terry Prescott were orphaned as children. Sammy, now the single mother of a young son, has stayed in their hometown and is an officer at the local bank. Terry has become something of a drifter, surfacing only when he needs money. Sammy's own life has its complications- she puts off an old boyfriend's proposal and begins an affair with her new boss. Together in their family home, Terry's charming irresponsibility collides with Sammy's confusion over her own actions. What remains unspoken is what they've known since they were left with only each other sixteen years before.

Critic Reviews

“"Funny, touching, beautifully calibrated." Newsweek "[ You Can Count on Me ] has a novelistic quality that stands with the work of Ann Beattie or Richard Russo" Denver Post "Accomplished . . . perceptive writing . . . Kenneth Lonergan has created an artful tale . . . [that] creates inescapably real characters and allows them to be themselves." Los Angeles Times "A wry, beautifully observed story." Roger Ebert & The Movies "Superbly executed . . .Enormously touching. . . A deftly observed drama." Variety "Funny, moving, and immensely satisfying." Chicago Tribune "Perfectly pitched. . .gets its characters and their world exactly and indelibly right." The New York Times "An intensely moving family drama . . . [that] makes us feel we truly have entered its characters' lives." The San Francisco Chronicle "Exceptionally thoughtful and moving." USA Today From the Trade Paperback edition.”

“Funny, touching, beautifully calibrated.”–Newsweek

“[You Can Count on Me] has a novelistic quality that stands with the work of Ann Beattie or Richard Russo”–Denver Post

“Accomplished . . . perceptive writing . . . Kenneth Lonergan has created an artful tale . . . [that] creates inescapably real characters and allows them to be themselves.”–Los Angeles Times

“A wry, beautifully observed story.”–Roger Ebert & The Movies

“Superbly executed . . .Enormously touching. . . A deftly observed drama.”–Variety

“Funny, moving, and immensely satisfying.”–Chicago Tribune

“Perfectly pitched. . .gets its characters and their world exactly and indelibly right.”–The New York Times

“An intensely moving family drama . . . [that] makes us feel we truly have entered its characters' lives.”–The San Francisco Chronicle

“Exceptionally thoughtful and moving.”–USA Today

About the Author

Kenneth Lonergan’s plays include This Is Our Youth and Lobby Hero. He wrote the original screenplay for Analyze This. You Can Count On Me marked his directorial debut. He lives in New York City.