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Chekhov may not falsely console, but he dignifies the human struggle in a secular parable that lives again through the magic of ensemble brio and a director at the top of his game.

Still, the effort at variety gets messy and shortchanges a portion of whatever opportunity there may be to make a parable out of a popular hero’s adventures.

Strauss, who also adapted “Nine Perfect Strangers,” transforms Gibson's story into a fast-paced, funny and illuminative parable that, in its unique way, explains how fringe disinformation became our reality, and how the ludicrous became plausible.

I was so green in the world that I hadn’t accepted there could be parables without a moral, questions without an answer.

“A Different Man” is essentially a parable of authenticity, and the value of being comfortable in one’s own skin — like Oswald.