A grainy and densely filmic mini-series from Derek Cianfrance portrays the troubled life of Dominick Birdsey and his mentally ill twin. Both are portrayed with extraordinary deftness by the great Mark Ruffalo. In fact - the entire cast here from the evergreen Melissa Leo to a stunningly affecting Rosie O'Donnell are the principal draw for me. It's an actor's series, for sure, and most scenes seem semi-improvised which lend it a remarkably hypnotic spontaneous quality.
It drew a lot of criticism, I think wrongly, for being a "downer" at a time globally where folk weren't up for it. Introspection during crisis is only natural however - and with its pragmatic coverage of things like mental health, self-harm, masculinity and forgiveness I think may be quite timely for some. There is no denying however that it is almost comically maudlin. Once you spot that each episode has a death in it you find yourself almost "waiting" for the next person to snuff it - and on reflection some seem more superfluous than others. So it goes.
My main beef is realism. The way it's shot, parts of what is portrayed (particularly for me personally) and the painful frankness of the performances hooked me early on and gave it a wild feeling of truth. However, the aforementioned "death a week", and some of the concluding parts fell wrong with me. It is based on a novel and even though it eschews some of the more soap-opera/shakespeare elements there are some coincidences and tired tropes present that feel so "written" that you are wrenched right out of it. Then you're not quite in reality - not quite in honesty.
So not quite a success - much like the twins themselves. Half away in its own world which isn't at all real and the other half very conscious but overwhelmingly burdened.
It drew a lot of criticism, I think wrongly, for being a "downer" at a time globally where folk weren't up for it. Introspection during crisis is only natural however - and with its pragmatic coverage of things like mental health, self-harm, masculinity and forgiveness I think may be quite timely for some. There is no denying however that it is almost comically maudlin. Once you spot that each episode has a death in it you find yourself almost "waiting" for the next person to snuff it - and on reflection some seem more superfluous than others. So it goes.
My main beef is realism. The way it's shot, parts of what is portrayed (particularly for me personally) and the painful frankness of the performances hooked me early on and gave it a wild feeling of truth. However, the aforementioned "death a week", and some of the concluding parts fell wrong with me. It is based on a novel and even though it eschews some of the more soap-opera/shakespeare elements there are some coincidences and tired tropes present that feel so "written" that you are wrenched right out of it. Then you're not quite in reality - not quite in honesty.
So not quite a success - much like the twins themselves. Half away in its own world which isn't at all real and the other half very conscious but overwhelmingly burdened.