What Doesn't Kill You

I started watching this film with no idea what it was about. I had added it to my Netflix queue a while back, and forgotten why. Right from the first scene, though, I knew I had found a hidden gem. According to Wikipedia, the movie premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released on a very small scale in December 2008 due to the collapse of its distributor, Yari Film Group. It is a straight- forward crime drama, showcasing the struggle of gangsters who want to change their lives. It is set apart, however, by the fact that it is based on Goodman's real life until the mid-1990s. Some guys deal with their demons with telling their story in a meeting…Goodman made a bad-ass movie about his…and Ruffalo, Hawke, and the rest of the cast (including Goodman) played the hell out of their roles.

This film is yet another rehash of that glut of films about kids who begin lives of crime early on, go to jail, and come out either enlightened or unchanged. Set in South Boston, WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU happens to star some fine actors in Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, and Amanda Peet, and their presence makes the film watchable. It is just tiresome to watch repeats an this 'bad kid' (Ruffalo) turned junkie turned convict turned negligent husband and father turned AA whose ability to make decent decisions finds him clueless until the end of the film.

The flavor of South Boston and prison and petty crimes becoming major crimes is well paced by writer/director/actor Brian Goodman. But this rambling story is ultimately boring - except for the pleasure of watching Mark Ruffalo inhabit this loser of a character. An OK movie, not a great one. Grady Harp

The basic motif for see this film was, for me, the presence on its poster of the names of Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo. And that was not a bad motif. But the film is more. Its impecable story, its delicate portrait of family, friendship, crime acts , the tension and bitter flavor and simple traces of the choices and duties and dreams of the characters are good motifs for see it. Again. Because, at the first sigh, it is far to be original. At the second, the special, gentle form of poetry of life becomes essential. For discover yourself front to fundamental questions. A film about solitude and about the great options. And about courage to be yourself. Splendid performances, lovely story.

I had no knowledge of the existence of this movie until the day I saw it, so when I started it I was pretty blown away by it. The gritty drama and really well told story of these 2 boys/men is fascinating, very well acted and initially very interesting. The score is beautiful, as is the initial pacing and storytelling. I was thinking this is one of the best movies I've seen for months, and then something odd happened.. the pacing shifted, suddenly long beautifully acted scenes were becoming clips of a few minutes here a sentence there, the character development that was so successful early on suddenly seemed to be redundant as stories become pointless and predictable. It's almost as though the movie changed to a different director and editor half-way through.

I found myself caring less and less about the characters as they became victims of over-editing. The only 2 scenes that lasted more than a couple of minutes in the last third that had any 'substance' were overly dramatic if not soppy father-son scenes where all other members of the family become low priority.

It's really quite a shame, I was enjoying the film so much during the first half, I was willing to give this film a 9 if only a little more of the plot would begin to unravel itself, but instead I got less plot, less character focus and more "this is bad" and "this is good" moments... It's a true pity as I shan't be recommending this movie due to it's second half.

...normally indicates that the film you are about to watch is almost unbelievable - this film is an exception to the rule.

Like The Departed and Gone Baby Gone, What Doesn't Kill You is an engrossing, gritty, sharply written and well-acted drama set on the mean streets of South Boston, which, by the number of movies being set there, is fast becoming as notorious as the bronx.

What Doesn't Kill You has to be the film that will catapult Mark Ruffalo into the big time, his performance is sublime, he plays a character that stirs a number of emotions from inside - easily the star of this gritty, intense tale of two dysfunctional friends.