X
- 2017
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 59 m
- 2017
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 59 m
Summary Stronger is the inspiring true story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become the symbol of hope following the infamous 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Jeff (Jake Gyllenhaal), a 27-year-old, working-class Boston man who was at the marathon to try and win back his ex-girlfriend Erin (Tatia...
Directed By: David Gordon Green
Written By: John Pollono, Jeff Bauman, Bret Witter
- 2017
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 59 m
- 2017
- R
- Roadside Attractions
- 1 h 59 m
Stronger
76
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary Stronger is the inspiring true story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become the symbol of hope following the infamous 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Jeff (Jake Gyllenhaal), a 27-year-old, working-class Boston man who was at the marathon to try and win back his ex-girlfriend Erin (Tatia...
Directed By: David Gordon Green
Written By: John Pollono, Jeff Bauman, Bret Witter
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
76
88% Positive
36 Reviews
36 Reviews
12% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 41 Critic Reviews
76
88% Positive
36 Reviews
36 Reviews
12% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
There’s a raw, tangible humanity to nearly every scene that sets the film gratifyingly apart.
Bolstered by sterling turns from stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, and Miranda Richardson, the film is a showcase for what Green has always been able to do so well, and what his actors continue to excel at.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 105 User Ratings
7.4
75% Positive
79 Ratings
79 Ratings
19% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
6% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 105 User Ratings
7.4
75% Positive
79 Ratings
79 Ratings
19% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
6% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Amazing movie. It truly gave such a different perspective to such a horrific tragedy. Very emotional and inspirational.
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Just like Peter Berg's "Patriots Day," "Stronger" is one of those movies that - simply put - puts everything in perspective for you, the audience member. Thanks to some absolutely magnificent performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany, the careful and creative directorial work from David Gordon Green, and an absolutely riveting script from screenwriter John Pollono, we're delivered an achingly human film that harbors some unfortunately unsung truths to be told about survivor's guilt, remorse, and the horrors of post-traumatic stress. "Stronger" is a triumph and one of the year's best films without a doubt. It should be seen by all.
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The movie is a straightforward, even familiar, tale of survival and recovery, but its grave respect for the unique extremity of its protagonist’s ordeal cancels out any impulse toward exploitation. It doesn’t make the mistake of assuming that your tears are its natural entitlement, which is precisely why you might find yourself shedding a few before it’s over.
Although at times fictionalized to make for a more cinematic retelling, the movie is largely accurate and rigorously avoids exploitation.
Maslany is first-rate in this role.
Too much of this movie is a conventionally rendered gloss that, in its own way, also attempts to cast Bauman as an inspirational icon. He is, but we can see in Gyllenhaal’s looks of grief and panic the makings of the more complex movie this might have been.
Stronger feels genuine and certainly has the right intentions, but never converts to something truly enlivening.
Stronger (2017) review
I remember seeing this film at one of the previews to a film and completely forgot about it. I then was hearing it got great reviews so I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did. This based on a true story movie on the Boston Marathon is a wondering showing of talent from all around. Not sure if it was in the editing or they wrote it in the screenplay, but the way it was structured help with the emotion. It never showed the event from his perspective until later in the film. It really was put in the right area. Also, damn are the performances fantastic. This is expected from someone like Jake G. but I had never seen Tatiana Maslany in a movie ever and she was fantastic. She never felt like she was misplaced or felt like she didn't belong. She put it up with Jake G. the whole time as he produced one of the best performances by him. There wasn't any when he came out and we thought we were watching the actor. There were times when he did show emotion but it never felt like he was asking. This is top two of his because it always felt like it was grounded in realism. He kills it again. The story itself also shows how the stages of grief can affect both the victim and the family but never felt cliche like a lot of bad inspirational films do. Overall I was very pleased with the film and actually liked it more than Patriot's day that came out last year.
9.5/10
A
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this movie **** me to the core as it is so hard to watch because of the emotion you feel for this man. Jake Gyllenhaal is phenomenal in this film and should have been seen by more critics circles. I cant watch this movie often as it is a very hard film to watch but i recommend it strongly.
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Jake Gyllenhaal is incredible in this, an absolute revelation. It's not like most inspirational biopics, Jeff struggles with PTSD, alcoholism and drug abuse while the effects of this tragic event and what happened to him take their role on his family, the city of Boston and his girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany). Its an incredible take on biopics, showing that it's not all about inspirational speeches and Rocky style montages.
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Major movie makers have this annoying habit of trying to turn every success story into wave or genre. If something turns into notable success you can bet your sweet ass that they will try to copy that as long as they can – many years, usually.
That’s how I’ve turned away from superhero movies and computer animated features, for example. Even if I loved something initially, I just can’t bear to watch the same blueprint again and again and again for 15 or even 30 years.
„Stronger“ belongs to this new wave of creating partly fictional accounts of recent real events which garnered a lot of mass media attention and had an impact on the social conscious of the U.S.
It’s about Boston marathon bombing in April 2013 and what happened to this one guy (Jake Gyllenhaal) who lost his legs in explosion. The focus is on his family, especially the relations with on-again-off-again girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany).
It’s actually the second movie about the sad event, following „Patriots Day“ released in November 2016 – two months later in Estonian cinemas. Luckily for variety’s sake, the two are as different as one could hope… well, excluding the obligatory patriotic/uplifting finale, of course.
The former falls into action/thriller/competence porn category and centers on the fervent terrorist hunt after the event. „Stronger“ shows that the worst actually comes after the explosion, when survivors have to pick themselves up and continue with their lives.
It eschews any action-based approach and ventures boldly into dark relationship drama / character study territory which is great because the leading man Jake Gyllenhaal is good for this type of thing.
„Stronger“ is promoted as an inspirational movie which doesn’t come as a surprise considering the subject of the story and it’s importance in modern American history. But its approach to what may be considered as inspirational is refreshingly different from expectations.
The story concentrates on how the main character was something of a big baby living under mother’s shadow to begin with, and the situ did not turn for the better after the personal tragedy.
The family is bunch of (lower) working-class nobodies also, and the makers deserve credit for having been able to build suspense based on just watching their regular life, with drinking, arguing, cumulating stress and all.
The girlfriend is the only other major character, and if you wish for more strong female figures in modern movies, you are in for a real treat.
Erin is written an ordinary woman by any means but Tatiana Maslany („Orphan Black“) plays her into something great and memorable, which compensates well his wounded boyfriend’s dark brooding. It’s a great performance and one of the things you will probably remember long from this movie.
As anticipated, Gyllenhaal’s performance is just as good or even better. It’s suitable territory for this versatile young actor who never fears to step in the dark side.
The moodiness and brooding energy he brings to the role largely defines the whole movie, and how much you like the whole movie probably depends on how well you are able to emphatize with his character and its obvious weakneses and shortcomings.
Oscar nominations are a real possibility, especially both for Gyllenhaal and Maslany. I could also see it happening for David Gordon Green the director and John Pollono for adapted screenplay.
If they get lucky, „Stronger“ will also snag Oscar noms for best movie, and a number of more technical catgories, including cinematography and make-up.
The almost shockingly unattractive and ordinary looks of the main character and his family, is really a thing to savor here.
Not to mention Gyllenhaal looking deliciously horrible as a victim, wounds and leg stumps and all. It’s safe to assume that most everybody was probably expecting certain amount of glamour from this ’uplifting’ movie.
After all this long text, I have reached the negative parts which may explain the rather surprisingly low score of 6.
I have to say that „Stronger“ bears the usual weaknesses of director David Gordon Green’s „serious“ movies.
Green is adept enough at creating atmosphere and intriguing start… but there’s always some noticeable limpness to his brand of storytelling which makes losing interest before the end a very real possibility.
It’s true that „Stronger“ has much more dramatic punch than Green’s previous known dramas such as „Joe“, „Manglehorn“, or „Prince Avalanche“, but it still manages to lose much of it somewhere during the final chapter.
The story is just too long, getting more meandering and self-indulgent toward the end.
So… „Stronger“ is pretty good for the most part, and certainly deserves praise for daring to be different and doing it well.
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Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jeff Bauman, the man who lost both legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. This story follows him thru the pain of recovery, rehab and depression to the eventual courage that helped him overcome his adversity. His off-again/on-again girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany) and his outspoken working-class family add complications. As I watched scene after scene that should be painful (both mentally and physically), I pondered, "Why am I not moved?" Gyllenhaal gave it his all, as did the entire cast, but until one of the last scenes, the movie never generated much empathy. It's a personal story that's sometimes nuanced and sensitive, but never held the emotional heft that would have made it more effective. To see a truly impactful film about this bombing, see "Patriots Day."
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Production Company
Lionsgate Films,
Bold Films,
TIK Films,
Mandeville Films,
Nine Stories Productions
Release Date Sep 22, 2017
Duration 1 h 59 m
Rating R
Tagline Loss changes us. Tragedy tests us. Strength defines us.
Awards
North Texas Film Critics Association, US
• 2 Nominations
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
• 2 Nominations
Hollywood Film Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
