REVIEW: Stronger

Directed by David Gordon Green
Biographical Drama
1 hour 56 minutes
From Roadside Attractions

Starring
Jake Gyllenhaal
Tatiana Maslany
Miranda Richardson
Clancy Brown

To tell the truth, I am rather surprised I saw this film.  I knew what it was about (the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing) and I usually want to put true, unpleasant stories behind me.  My take is that I was glued to the actual events and I have little desire to relive them.  That was offset by another truth... I'm pretty crazy about Jake Gyllenhaal and have been since Brokeback Mountain.  Jake won.

This is the story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary, somewhat unmotivated but engaging young man who works in Costco's meat department in Boston.  He is out drinking with his buddies when he spots his on again, off again girlfriend, Erin (Maslany) and decides to see if he can move the relationship from off to on.  She's not having much of it because she is there for a drink and to collect donations for her upcoming run in the marathon.  Jeff endears himself to her by taking her donation jar around the bar and trying to grab as much money for her as he can.

He wants to support her run in whatever way he can and promises to be at the finish line while telling her to look for a huge sign.  We see him in the crowd and we also see a man with a hoodie bump into him as he silently passes.  The next thing is there are two explosions and Jeff has lost both of his legs.

The thrust of the story is watching Jeff trying to live up to the title of the film and for most of it he doesn't do so well.  He seems to bristle when he hears Boston Strong.  He's embarrassed at being the center of attention, resists being called a hero, makes life a bit difficult for his girlfriend who is his main caretaker and has a reluctance (at first) to embrace either his therapy or new legs.   

Of course a large part of the story is seeing how Jeff handles his loss of limbs... including such things as sitting on the john, taking a bath, getting out of bed and much more.  As an audience member, it was difficult to not hurt for him and I confess (once again) to choking up more than once.

In addition to Jeff, we learn about those in his orbit.  He asks a guilt-ridden Erin to care for him which she manages expertly despite his noisy, rambunctious and mind-numbingly vulgar family who treat her with little respect. 

This hero notion is dealt with fairly as I see it. I agree with Jeff frankly... why are people called heroes because they've survived a tragedy?  Wouldn't it be more accurate to call them survivors?  I suspect in this day and age, we are really so desperate for real heroes that we sometimes mis-label people. I see first-responders as heroes while the Jeffs of the world truly become heroic when they use their disability and celebrity to help others.

Of course, that is what happens.  As Jeff moves out more into the world, he runs across people who tell him how much they admire him.  What generates the biggest change in him is when he is visited by a man who helped him at the time of the tragedy. The things the man tells Jeff engages him to such an extent that he turns his life around. It is my favorite scene.  A second favorite scene is when Jeff and Erin have a blistering argument.

The film has several things going for it.  One is the special effects done on Gyllenhaal's body.  There's no blanket-covering or avoidance.  This is all accomplished to such a degree that Gyllenhaal may get a few sympathy cards.

I have only seen two other films by director Greene.  One was the 2004 gripping family drama, Undertow, which I loved and Pineapple Express (2008), a crime comedy that I liked mainly because James Franco was in it.  And I like this film, so we know Greene is on my radar now.  Now I want to see his highly-regarded 2000 film, George Washington, (not about the first American president) which I missed.  Greene seems to have an affinity for the great outdoors.  Boston is lovingly photographed.  

I was not disappointed that I chose to see this because of Gyllenhaal.  He was exceptional in another physical role that was demanding and finely tuned on an emotional level.  The performance is one of the best he's given in years. I'd be surprised if he's not nominated for an Oscar.  And you can believe this... those big saucer eyes will just break your heart in some scenes.  There were some shots of him that made me think how much he looked like he did in Donnie Darko, which he made 17 years ago.  

As one half of this mercurial couple, Maslany deserves much praise. While I realize now that she played Helen Mirren's younger self in Woman in Gold (2015), I had forgotten about her and have not seen her in anything else.  So, here was another delightful surprise.  I didn't catch her acting for a single moment.  I don't think anyone else could have done a better job.

I am a bit ambivalent to heap praise on Miranda Richardson (whose work I haven't seen for years), not because she wasn't good (she was very good) but because as Bauman's mother, she was such an unpleasant person. If this is what Bauman's real mother is/was like, I wonder why he didn't soften her a bit... or did he?  Perish the thought.  

Boy, this is a boozy, uncouth clan highlighted here.  Sorry Ben, Matt and Mark, but I would get tired of seeing my hometown portrayed in such a plebeian fashion.  Does everyone drink like a fish, yell and swear?  I've told readers before that I curse but I may never do it again after seeing this.  The f-bombs seared and brutalized my ears. In one scene they came like the colors in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I witnessed two couples walking out of the theater.  They could take it no more.

One last thing worth mentioning is that the film plays more like a docudrama than some mawkish, unexceptional piece that one might see on the Hallmark Channel.  There were so many times the film-makers could have sent us on some overly-sentimental journey but they chose not to do so.  And I applaud them for that.




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