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List Price: $19.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 13819
Released: April 28, 2009 |
| Our Price: $4.78 |
| Used Price: $0.99 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke, Best Actor In a Supporting Role for Training Day, 2001) are two lifelong friends who grew up like brothers on the gritty streets of south Boston. They started early as street thugs living by the criminal code, doing petty crimes and misdemeanors that grew increasingly more serious. Eventually they fall under the sway of organized crime boss Pat Kelly (Brian Goodman). As Brian becomes increasingly lost in a haze of drugs and 'jobs,' he consistently disappoints his loyal wife (Amanda Peet) and their two sons. Torn between the desire to be a good husband and the lure of easy money, Brian must make the hardest choice of his life.
Description of What Doesn't Kill You:
Mark Ruffalo is terrific in What Doesn't Kill You as a South Boston career criminal who since his early teens has done "errands" for the neighborhood crimelord and never considered any other way of making a living. It's the sort of performance wherein the actor so wholly inhabits the character that his every glance, stride, or hesitation is a glimpse into the guy's soul, even as the guy is a person of modest intelligence not given to complex self-expression. That's fascinating to watch (and this may be Ruffalo's career-best work), but it nudges us toward recognizing the film's limitations as well as its core strength. What Doesn't Kill You is an actors' movie; Brian Goodman, its co-writer and first-time director, is himself an actor and plays the gang boss. Virtually every scene is an occasion for actors to conspire in creating a believable texture of life going on. The cast all repay watching, especially Ethan Hawke as Ruffalo's lifelong pal and Amanda Peet as the long-suffering wife who seems to have stepped right out of a Southie kitchen. But there's only the barest outline of a screenplay. We get what every scene is supposed to be about, but they're mostly pieces of things, indications rather than scenes that flow and build; it's a little like seeing a feature-length compression of an entire season of The Wire. Although a foreword announces that "the story you are about to see is true," it's also a pretty familiar story as crime movies go. So, as a genre entry, What Doesn't Kill You disappoints, and its flashback structure--after an opening armored-car robbery scene heavy with dire portent--proves to be a bit of a cheat. Yet for all its shortcomings, the film compels sympathy, especially when it finally locates its eminently human heart during the final half-hour. --Richard T. Jameson
What Doesn't Kill You Reviews:
thugs in the city 
2009-10-25 - The whole theme of this movie seems to be we should see these thugs
as people? They are out beating up and robbing people from the time they are kids.
That they could have a family life on the other side of robbing and doing cocaine
makes them human?
I thought that the movie about modern mobsters in the big city
was just pretty nasty instead of the exciting it was supposed to be.
Aside from having a really bad plot, the acting , costumes and setting was well done.
This movie is just not one you would want to bring home
to watch after dinner.
Very Realistic Crime Drama 
2009-09-19 - This is a very realistic crime drama. Of course, it is based on a true story. The acting is sincere all around and definitely draws you in.
Formulaic
2009-06-26 - Despite a great cast, this story is another in the "South Boston" boys gone wrong genre. Morever, the first three-quarters of the film is jumbled, dimly lit and uninspired. It picks up thereafter with some suspense over the protagonist's moral quandry.
a gritty Boston tale
2009-06-08 - Well told and acted. Lots of Boston scenes and faces. How did they get in jail to film this? A better than average true tale story.
Ruffalo and Hawke Shine in Crime Drama
2009-05-23 - "What Doesn't Kill You" reminded me of such episodic gangster pictures as "Goodfellas" and "Once Upon a Time in America." It's an autobiographical take on the life and experiences of director Brian Goodman, who was a petty criminal and drug addict as well as a family man. From an early age, Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) do jobs for crime boss Pat Kelly. With no way to support a growing family, Brian sinks deeper and deeper into the world of crime until he is given the opportunity to participate in the biggest robbery of his life.
The film's Boston setting is reminiscent of "The Departed," but Goodman's film is far more modest and less complex. The best thing about "What Doesn't Kill You" is Mark Ruffalo, who has done consistently good work in excellent, mediocre, and weak films through the years. Here, he has a meaty role and makes Brian a multifaceted character, not a one-note cliché. His Brian is torn between the dishonest world of fast bucks and his responsibility to a wife and child. The film is raw and captures the desperation of the streets. Considering it doesn't boast A-list stars, a top director, or large budget, the film is an admirable achievement.
Bonus extras include deleted scenes, commentary, and a making-of featurette.
