You Can Count on Me is a 2000 American drama film written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan in his feature directorial debut, and starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Rory Culkin, and Matthew Broderick. The film follows a single mother living in a small Catskill Mountains town whose life is disrupted when her struggling, wayward younger brother returns.

Development for You Can Count on Me began in the 1990s, with Lonergan completing the screenplay based on characters that were the focus of a one-act play he wrote. Principal photography took place on location in the Catskill Mountains in 1999.

You Can Count on Me premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000, where it tied with Girlfight for the Grand Jury Prize, and Lonergan won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. It was given a limited theatrical release released in the United States by Paramount Classics beginning November 10, 2000, with its release eventually expanding to 150 theaters nationwide. The film went on to become a sleeper hit, earning $11.2 million internationally, and was met with critical acclaim. At the 73rd Academy Awards, Linney was nominated for Best Actress and Lonergan was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

Sammy and Terry Prescott lose their parents to a car crash. Years later, Sammy, a single mother and loan officer at a bank, still lives in her childhood home in a village in the Catskill Mountains of New York, while Terry has drifted around the country, scraping by and getting in and out of trouble.

After months of no communication with his sister, Terry and his girlfriend Sheila are desperate for money, so he comes to visit Sammy and her son Rudy, who are excited about reuniting with him. Despite the disappointment of learning that he cut off contact because he was in jail for three months, Sammy lends him the money, which he mails back to Sheila. After Sheila attempts suicide, he decides to extend his stay with Sammy, which she welcomes.

For a school writing assignment, Rudy imagines his father, who he has no memory of, as a fantastic hero. While Sammy has always given him vague yet negative descriptions of Rudy Sr., Terry is frank with him that Rudy Sr. is not a nice person – though Rudy naively believes his father has changed. Sammy rekindles a sexual relationship with Bob, an old boyfriend, but is surprised when he proposes to her after a short time so says she needs time to consider it.

At the bank, the new manager Brian tries to make his mark with unusual demands about computer color schemes and daily timesheets. While co-worker Mabel works well with the changes, Sammy is upset when Brian requests that she make arrangements for someone else to pick up Rudy from the school bus rather than Sammy leaving work at random. After some minor arguments, they start having sex, 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, keeping Rudy out very late as the two play pool at a bar. She turns to Ron, her church minister, to counsel Terry about his aimless outlook on life. While Terry resists his sister's advice, he and Rudy grow steadily closer. Realizing her own questionable decisions, Sammy turns down Bob's marriage proposal and breaks off her fling with Brian.