You Can Count On Manchester By the Sea

Here at DVDExotica, we appreciate all kinds of movies, even those you don't have to hide from your parents and children.  Sure, usually I'm a wild-haired film snob waving his finger at the television screen shouting, "you're giving 'Best Picture' to that pandering piece of dumbed-down Hollywood pap?"  But sometimes I do stumble onto a film simply because it's been nominated and come out saying to myself, wow, that really was an excellent movie.  And here are two such examples, 2000's You Can Count On Me and this year's Manchester By the Sea, both by writer/ director Kenneth Lonergan.  In fact, I think I may've spotted a subtle similarity in their stories.

Update 5/13/17 - 8/6/25: Finally, we have You Can Count On Me in 4k, thanks to Criterion's new BD/ UHD combo-pack (also available as a single BD release).

You Can Count On Me stars Mark Ruffalo as a thirty-something, orphaned drifter, getting into bar fights and doing odd jobs to barely scrape by with no anchor or goal in life.  Following a death in the family, he returns home to the small town he grew up in, where he's widely known as an infamous trouble-maker.  At first he maintains a civil distance, but as they're staying together, he's pressured into reconnecting with his nephew who grew up with only one parent.  He winds up taking his nephew to see the father he'd never known, and it goes disastrously.  Still, it turns out to be a necessary growing experience for the boy, they ultimately wind up bonding and we see the strength of the drifter's character hidden by all the flaws he wears on his sleeve.  Though he ultimately [SPOILER technically, but not really, because it's clear this is the direction the story was always headed in.  Like, don't worry; this won't ruin the movie for you if you haven't seen it] leaves the town and his nephew behind to return to the seemingly empty life he left behind despite being pleaded with to stay and live in their hometown, we know they'll see each other again, because they've grown together into a genuine, loving family.  The supporting cast includes Matthew Broderick in a terrific, stuffy but scene-stealing comic role and Lonergan himself in an amusing and well-played bit part.

Manchester By the Sea stars Casey Affleck as a thirty-something, orphaned drifter, getting into bar fights and doing odd jobs to barely scrape by with no anchor or goal in life.  Following a death in the family, he returns home to the small town he grew up in, where he's widely known as an infamous trouble-maker.  At first he maintains a civil distance, but as they're staying together, he's pressured into reconnecting with his nephew who grew up with only one parent.  He winds up taking his nephew to see the mother he'd never known, and it goes disastrously.  Still, it turns out to be a necessary growing experience for the boy, they ultimately wind up bonding and we see the strength of the drifter's character hidden by all the flaws he wears on his sleeve.  Though he ultimately [SPOILER technically, but not really, because it's clear this is the direction the story was always headed in.  Like, don't worry; this won't ruin the movie for you if you haven't seen it] leaves the town and his nephew behind to return to the seemingly empty life he left behind despite being pleaded with to stay and live in their hometown, we know they'll see each other again, because they've grown together into a genuine, loving family.  The supporting cast includes Matthew Broderick in a terrific, stuffy but scene-stealing comic role and Lonergan himself in an amusing and well-played bit part.

Look, I'm not criticizing either film by playing up their similarities.  And obviously they're not strictly identical.  You Can Count On Me also co-stars Laura Linney as the nephew's mother, whose subplot is almost as important as Ruffalo's.  And the nephew character is now an older teen with more adult concerns, excellently played by Lucas Hedges, in Manchester By the Sea.  Manchester also delves deep into the drifter's backstory, which is only touched on in exposition in You Can Count On Me, unveiling a deeper tragedy.  They have unique scenes of humor and drama.  I actually think it's a compelling return to the first film's themes by Lonergan, and the two films actually play even stronger together than as separate, unconnected works.  Both deserved their Academy Award nods more than most of their peers, and I highly recommend the pair, especially if you've seen and enjoyed one, but not yet caught the other.

It seemed crazy that You Can Count On Me had not been released on blu-ray, not even to coincide with the recent release of Manchester By the Sea.  All we had was the 2001 DVD from Paramount, which was at least widescreen and has some decent special features.  The exact same thing could be said for Lions Gate's 2017 Manchester By the Sea release, except they did also release a blu-ray version.  In fact, it's a combo-pack, so we can compare the DVD and blu.  And now, finally in 2025, we have You Can Count On Me on blu, and UHD even, thank to Criterion wisely picking up and restoring the film in 4k from the original 35mm interpositive.  So let's look at that first.

2001 Paramount DVD top; 2025 Criterion BD mid; 2025 Criterion UHD bottom.

Paramount's You Can Count On Me DVD isn't bad for being so old, at least it's anamorphic and uninterlaced.  It's framed at 1.77:1, with a slight pillarbox bar on the right-hand side, that was probably hidden in its day by the TV overscan area.  It looks soft and murky by today's standards and sure was ready for Criterion's boost to HD.  The reflection on that lake looks pretty jittery in motion.  So Criterion fixes the AR to 1.85:1, revealing more picture along the sides, an d even a smidgen vertically.  It also color corrects that feint red hue that seemed to gently plague so many DVDs of that era.  Film grain is barely visible even on the UHD.  Honestly, it looks DNR'd; I had to double-check that this wasn't shot digitally.  But there's no question the image is crisper and clearer on the new Criterion discs compared to the old DVD, and we can now make out plenty of detail (like Rory Culkin's eyes in the shot above) we couldn't before.  So despite my reservations, it's a major upgrade.

The DVD includes the option of a 5.1 mix or a 2.0 stereo track, both in Dolby.  Criterion does away with the stereo option (which is just fine; your player will naturally handle that mix-down anyway) and bumps up the 5.1 to DTS-HD.  Both discs include optional English subtitles.

2017 Lions Gate DVD top; 2017 Lions Gate BD bottom.

blu-ray left; DVD right.

In comparison, Manchester By the Sea looks so much clearer and more vibrant.  Seeing the shots on the same page like this really illustrates how much You Can Count On Me could use a new release.  But, anyway, taken on its own terms, Manchester's blu is a pretty sharp; even its DVD counterpart looks almost as good.  But of course, when you get in close, you see all the texture that's lost in SD (was fake film grain added to this movie?).  Lions Gate letterboxes it to 1.85:1, and gives us a 5.1 mix (in DTS-HD on the blu), with an additional Spanish dub and optional English and Spanish subtitles.

You Can Count On Me's DVD isn't exactly a packed special edition, but it has a small, somewhat satisfying selection of extras.  The main asset is an audio commentary by Lonergan, who's a good guide through his work.  There's also a brief featurette, which talks to Lonergan and the cast.  It's short, but not overloaded with clips from the film, making it a bit more filling than many of its ilk.  There's also the film's trailer, some bonus trailers and an insert.

Criterion keeps the commentary and conducts some really good, brand new interviews with Lonergan and stars Ruffalo, Linney and Broderick.  It's pretty impressive they were able to get Ruffalo now that he's a Marvel Avenger.  They also have the trailer, and a 32-page, full color booklet with an essay by Rebecca Gilman and a reproduction and Lonergan's original one-act play.  One disappointing, small step backwards, though: Criterion dropped the featurette.

For Manchester, Lonergan's back with another audio commentary, which is about as good as the first, though frustratingly he never once mentions You Can Count On Me; suggesting this story was completely invented on its own by Matt Damon and himself, with no connection to any previous work.  Okay.  There's a similar featurette, as well, which gets some nice quotes from the cast and takes a look at the filming location, again without getting bogged down in promotional clips.  This time we also get three deleted scenes, and again some bonus trailers. There's no insert (except for one of those digital download code sheets), but it does come in a slipcover.  In fact, if you're a collector, you should know there are actually two alternate slipcovers out there.  The one I have pictured above, and a newer repressing that swaps out the Golden Globes banner with one touting its Academy Awards instead.

So yeah, I heartily recommend both films; the Academy got it right in these cases.  And hey, here's how I ended this in 2017: "[m]aybe if we hold a candle light vigil or something, we can get a nice 4k scan of You Can Count On Me from Criterion or somebody?"  Never doubt the power of candlelight!