If the reviews are to believed, you're going to have a tough time watching the new HBO miniseries that was filmed throughout the Hudson Valley.

Last summer, towns all over the Hudson Valley were abuzz with film crews and celebrities working on an ambitious six-part miniseries based on Wally Lamb's best-selling novel I Know This Much Is True. After being pushed back from a January release, the limited-run series will finally debut this Sunday night at 9pm on HBO.

Many Hudson Valley residents are expected to tune in to look for all of the local landmarks that serve as the backdrop to the series, but critics are warning that it may not be that easy to watch. After combing countless reviews of the new series, there seems to be an agreement on two things; Mark Ruffalo's incredible performance is Emmy worthy and the miniseries is unwatchable.

It turns out that the amount of terribly depressing things that happen to the characters in this melodramatic story is almost impossible to get through. A common thread through all of the current reviews is just how much of a chore it is to watch this series during such a bleak moment in time.  The heavy subject matter that keeps hitting you over the head with tragedy is not something anyone really wants or is mentally able to endure while being bombarded by news of the horrific real-life world that now surrounds us.

It seems a shame, not only because the Hudson Valley is so prominently showcased in this series, but because Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of twin brothers is said to be some of his finest work to date. The supporting cast is also getting rave reviews for their performances, which is sadly overshadowed by a story that just continues to drag on.

Believe me, I really want to like this series. I've even been going out of my way to find positive reviews. But, sadly, it seems as if this show is going to be a major bummer. If you don't believe me, here are just a few of the most brutal lines that critics have written about I Know This Much Is True.

"Watching this depressing miniseries is a slog" -  Alan Sepinwall's two-star review in Rolling Stone

"It promises more than it delivers — eventually the story collapses in on itself, settling for the sentimental formulas it’s been pretending it was above." - Mike Hale, New York Times

"There are heavy stories, and there are heavy stories that make you feel like your ankle is chained to a safe that’s sinking to the bottom of a dark, fathomless ocean... And then there’s 'I Know This Much Is True,' which is ceaselessly, back-breakingly heavy enough to throw you out of alignment for a good long time. - Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe

"It’s hard to tell what 'I Know This Much Is True' really wants to be about until the very end, when it offers resolutions that don’t quite satisfy, or directly answer, all that came before." - Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

"...in the end, 'I Know This Much Is True' cannot fully bridge a credibility gap. Dominick has suffered more extravagantly than can reasonably be imagined, and at a certain point, we cannot help shutting down a bit — in part for the extremity of the agony, and in part because it leads nowhere." - Daniel D'Addario, Variety

"Over one hundred countries are experiencing some form of lockdown, the global economy is in free fall, and the last time you saw your loved ones was probably over a frozen Zoom screen. If you aren’t already mired in sadness, here comes HBO’s I Know This Much Is True to fully extinguish any spark of levity you might have had left." - Ines Bellina, AV Club

"I Know This Much Is True is a six-part epic of unending misery, piling on as much torture for Mark Ruffalo’s twin protagonists as it does for the audience" - Josh Bell, CBR

 

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Read more:

6 Hudson Valley Locations to Look for in 'I Know This Much Is True'

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