A Different Man takes a different approach, presenting its title special needs case in an unflattering light. Playing Edward, a man with a facially disfiguring condition, handsome Winter Soldier star Sebastian Stan dons make up and unrelentingly reveals that flaws come from the inside. Rather than pander to the appealing idea that a good soul must lie beneath a nontraditional exterior, writer-director Aaron Schimberg creates a character whose problems mirror weaknesses unrelated to appearance. Selfishness, inflated personal evaluations, and a willingness to trample those in the way happen regardless of looks, emphasized by fellow performers Renate

Reinsve and Adam Pearson. As in her Worst Person in the World breakout film, Reinsve blends charm with faults, someone who immediately engenders warmth but actually requires some wariness from those in her path. The twist comes with Pearson as Oswald, an actor who needs no mask or makeup to play a man with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that deforms bones and changes skin texture. Cheerful and confident, Oswald, like Pearson in real life, moves forward. He stands apart from Edward who despite a physical cure, cannot overcome his self-inflicted mental obstacles. Irony dominates in a clever and well-produced meditation on the power of positive thinking versus the impact of negativity.
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