It is a drama series that embodies the meaning of American life for a period of time. The series deals with an epic family epic exploring American identity after a parallel life to the twin brothers Dominic and Thomas Birdsey. These two brothers face a different path throughout their lives and during the last half of the twentieth century.
Each brother could become a showy caricature of their written selves, and yet [Ruffalo] lives in the small, quiet moments as well as big, explosive outbursts.
Ruffalo's performance as the twins here is a career best. He melts into each brother so completely that it's almost startling to remember that he plays both of them.
It's not Ruffalo's fault - he's great here - but the material is spread too thin over too much canvas, then culminates in too banal a "truth." In a word, it's as dull as it is grim.
The obvious question is why or even how anybody could or would sit through such a thing. And the answer, equally obvious to anyone who watches even five minutes, is the awesome performance of Mark Ruffalo as both twins.
"I Know This Much Is True" misses the mark in terms of storytelling. It just sits there, a roiling mass of misery that fails to provide you with a compelling reason to keep watching.
With an irritatingly stylish camera move unnecessarily teasing us before a big reveal, through the final scenes, by which time the viewer is more exhausted than enlightened, this is one of the more disappointing misfires of the home viewing year.
How well you tolerate it has more to do with the height of your Debbie Downer index than your appetite for high-level acting in service of a sprawling, decades-long epic.
