I Know This Much Is True first impression: Mark Ruffalo is astonishing in the HBO miniseries

Their mother never explained who their father is or was and whether he is alive. The only answer she gave was digression to some other topic.

I Know This Much Is True is a well-made miniseries. First off, Mark Ruffalo is an absolute revelation. We’ve known for a long time that he is a great actor, but how great? Well, this great. You have to watch I Know This Much Is True to understand what I am saying here. His performance is beyond words here. And this may be the best work of his career.

I am less convinced of the miniseries as a whole. While there is nothing wrong in the writing, plotting and its atmosphere, it is often hard to watch, at least for me, due to all that misery and tragedy. One thing it does really well, and which paradoxically makes it difficult to go through, is its unflinching, often too brutal, depiction of mental illness.

Despite being put off by that tone, I kept watching the episode, and that was solely due to Mark Ruffalo being an out-and-out master of the craft and subsuming himself in the role(s) like nobody else.