BlinkDash

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.

Ruffalo's performance is reminiscent of Jeremy Irons in "Dead Ringers," where you literally forget you are watching an actor playing a dual role. The difference between Dominic and Thomas is not just surface-level. This is such a highly skilled performance that the "skill" itself is invisible. As painful as so much of the series is, watching Ruffalo tackle an enormous challenge like this—and pull it off without showing any strain—is thrilling. Kathryn Hahn plays Dominic's ex-wife Dessa, tied to Dominic through memories, both painful and loving. Imogen Poots is Joy, Dominic's new girlfriend, a much younger woman, less inclined to be sympathetic towards Dominic's moods. Rob Huebel is very funny as Leo, Dominic's best friend from way back, a wannabe actor and used car salesman.

But it's the people Dominic meets as he tries, with increasing desperation, to get Thomas out of the facility where he was locked up after the hand-incident, that really ground the story, give it its true structure. The "facility" is a prison, and Thomas has been tossed in with the general population. Dominic is not allowed to see him, and flips out repeatedly, yelling, screaming, even punching a policeman at one point. Lisa Sheffer (Rosie O'Donnell), the social worker advocating for Thomas, finds Dominic almost as difficult to deal with as his disabled brother. Dr. Patel, (Archie Panjabi), the psychiatrist working with Thomas, recognizes almost instantly that Dominic may not be hospitalized or "sick" but he is emotionally disabled, completely trapped in anger, aggression, and pain.

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