415: I Know This Much Is True

[00:00:00] Alright, so those are his three feature films. Now I want to do his mini-series, which is I Know This Much Is True, and it came out in 2020. It stars Mark Ruffalo, John Prochacchino, Melissa Leo, Catherine Hahn, Rosie O'Donnell, a few others, Emma Jean Poots.

[00:00:21] And the synopsis is following the parallel lives of identical twin brothers Dominic and Thomas Birdseed in a story of betrayal, sacrifice, and forgiveness. This one premiered on HBO. When this one came out I did not know it was done by Derek Cianfrance until I saw a trailer

[00:00:40] for it so I was very very excited and surprised going into it. I didn't know anything about it besides Cianfrance's involvement and then Mark Ruffalo playing both lead roles and dealing with one of them having schizophrenia.

[00:00:55] Other than that I didn't know anything about the story or anything along those lines. First and foremost, I don't want to seem like I'm just praising this guy beyond belief or forgiving any flaws or anything like that, but this is definitely one of the best mini-series,

[00:01:11] drama mini-series that I've ever seen. You could call it misery porn because it's so dark and depressing and dreary and miserable all the time really, but at the same time it's real within the context of this story

[00:01:25] because dealing with this brother who's divorced, his child suddenly died, and he has this schizophrenic brother who is acting out and cannot really take care of himself and so he's having to completely devote himself to this brother and never really getting a restful moment.

[00:01:44] Just one thing after another, oh your brother did this, he said this, he went out and did this, he cut off his own hand, he is saying all these crazy things. So it's a very, very heavy, dark, tragic story but Mark Ruffalo for one is amazing.

[00:02:00] He plays both characters perfectly and there are such differences between those two brothers in terms of look, performance, nuances, it's really amazing and I wish he'd gotten even more credit than he did for this because it's a career best in my opinion for him.

[00:02:16] I, even though I wasn't really around when he was going through it at his worst, my half-brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my late half-brother, he's passed away sadly, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early 20s I believe and he was acting out very much

[00:02:37] so in some ways similar to Mark Ruffalo's character in this in his teens and early 20s I won't go into any of that stuff and I wasn't even really around when that was happening but I heard a lot of stories.

[00:02:51] It was an extreme shock and strain for him more so than anyone but also the family and everything like that and so I at least know in some ways I knew him later on in life

[00:03:03] where he had gotten medication and was doing a little bit better but I definitely know in some ways how this impacts the person and then also impacts the family as well in terms

[00:03:13] of taking care of them and all that so it's a very personal story for me even though I didn't personally go through the worst of it. The tragedy of Mark Ruffalo's, the non-schizophrenic brother Dominic, there are so many facets

[00:03:29] to that character where he's trying his best to take care of his brother who cannot be controlled with the state that he's in and him having to reel from going through a terrible divorce, his child having died suddenly as I said, him trying to reconnect at least in

[00:03:47] some ways with Catherine Han, his ex-wife, his ex-wife still loving him and caring for him but seeing how trapped he is but also missing those earlier days together and then Mark Ruffalo trying to maintain his business and work while at the same time taking care

[00:04:05] of his brother so there's a lot going on there. I love Rosie O'Donnell in this movie, she's amazing. The writing is great as well but her conversations with Mark Ruffalo being this social worker,

[00:04:18] she's clearly trying her best as I'm sure many social workers these days do where they're having to fight a million lines of red tape, having to do all they can with the limited

[00:04:28] power that they have, the family getting frustrated at them because they're the only ones to blame in terms of being front and center and present in the everyday life of the people they're

[00:04:39] taking care of so that is a great part of the film and feels very real in terms of an actual social worker having to deal with an incredibly worn down, burnt out family but also the family members themselves saying why aren't you doing more for my family member,

[00:04:59] for my friend, whoever, why aren't you doing this, why can't you make this happen, that happen etc. So all of that, you see the medical system and the breakdown of the medical system at

[00:05:09] work there where people despite them having all the care and love in the world they themselves are getting burnt out because they can't do much, they get yelled at, they get frustrated too it's a really interesting dynamic and she is great.

[00:05:24] I don't love Melissa Leo overall, she's good in this but she's a little hit and miss for me sometimes she can be a little too at 11 out of 10 all the time but I think she's pretty good in this.

[00:05:37] So it's one that I wouldn't really feel the need to rewatch ever unless I'm watching it with someone who hasn't seen it because it is, of all of his movies, the heaviest in my opinion.

[00:05:49] There's almost no humor, it's just life sucks, this happens, this happens, deal with it, try and get through the day and it's quite draining and depressing and dark but if you're

[00:06:02] ready for it, if you're in the mood and you enjoy this kind of thing or you want to give it a chance I absolutely would because it is like I said one of the best miniseries

[00:06:10] that I've ever seen for a multitude of reasons so it is one of Derek Cianfrance's best. I still think Place Beyond the Pines will always be my favorite of his works but this is a close second for sure. So that is a 5 out of 5.