Get a double dose of Mark Ruffalo in Sky Atlantic/ HBO’S new drama
SKY ATLANTIC/NOW TV, MONDAY 11 MAY, 2AM/9PM
There are plenty of reasons to watch this new mini-series from HBO. It’s adapted from an excellent 1998 novel by Wally Lamb, which was featured in Oprah’s book club and was over 900 extraordinary pages in length. It’s written and directed by filmmaker Derek Cianfrance, who made the deeply atmospheric and gripping films Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, AND its title is a lyric by Spandau Ballet. But surely the major reason to give this six-parter your full attention, is that it stars Mark Ruffalo (Avengers, The Kids Are All Right)… as twins!
DOM VS TOM
Ruffalo’s two major roles in the story are as identical twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey (you can tell which is which because Dom has full-on face fuzz, while Tom is mostly clean shaven), whose parallel but deeply contrasting lives in a small Connecticut town form the basis for this enthralling story. Beginning in the present day, we see how Dominick is struggling to deal with his dysfunctional family issues – but that’s nothing compared to his bro Thomas, who has been diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia. Their lives as adults approaching middle-age are intercut with flashbacks to their childhood and young adulthood.
SECRETS AND SURPRISES
There’s also a superb supporting cast with topnotch actors filling every role, including Kathryn Hahn as Dominick’s ex, Melissa Leo as the twins’ mother, Rosie O’donnell as Thomas’ social worker, and Archie Panjabi playing Dominick’s therapist. Imogen Poots and Juliette Lewis also play key women in the Birdseys’ life (see sidebar for details). Drama series don’t come much more prestigious than this. HHHH