I Know This Much Is True

Critics see movies through different lenses. Individual critics have different sweet spots. Does the story work? How are the visuals? Is it cliched? For me, performance is the “way in.” Performance is story; performance can redeem clumsy execution, and even bad dialogue. HBO’s “I Know This Much is True,” a six-part adaptation of Wally Lamb’s 1998 best-selling novel, is, often, “too much,” in its unremitting misery, trauma, and tragedy. Putting aside for a moment the fact that many people live desperate lives, trapped in self-destructive narratives, “I Know This Much is True” is filled with riveting performances, and not just from Mark Ruffalo, one of our best actors, astonishing here in a double role as twins Dominic and Thomas Birdsey.I Know This Much Is True Season 1 Download

Everyone, from supporting characters on down to actors who show up in just one scene, is so good that it’s a joy to sit back and watch. (Casting director Bonnie Timmerman deserves a shoutout for her instincts in casting, especially the smaller roles). Brought to the screen by Derek Cianfrance (who also did the adaptation), “I Know This Much is True” is often a tough watch. There are times when “compassion fatigue” sets in, particularly in the final episode. But seeing actors do what they do best, with Cianfrance giving them the space to do it, makes “I Know This Much is True” a real feast.Dominic and Thomas Birdsey were born into a family full of secrets. Their mother, a submissive downtrodden Melissa Leo, never revealed their real father’s identity. Their abusive controlling stepfather (John Procaccino) picks out Thomas in particular, perceived as “soft,” for punishment. Decades later, Dominic is relatively stable compared to Thomas, who developed schizophrenia and has been in and out of institutions for years. Dominic and Thomas grew up in Three Rivers, Connecticut, a onetime mill town, built by the immigrants who flocked there in the early decades of the 20th century, including Dominic and Thomas’ Sicilian grandfather. The opening scene of “I Know This Much is True” is a doozy, showing Thomas in a public library, moaning about God, before chopping off his own hand with a knife, sending the patrons screaming from the room.