Directed by:
Brian GoodmanCinematography:
Christopher NorrComposer:
Alex WurmanCast:
Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet, Will Lyman, Brian Goodman, Donnie Wahlberg, Angela Featherstone, Lenny Clarke, Jay Giannone, Dan Marshall, John Fiore (more)Plots(1)
Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) 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. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (1)
I have to praise the performances of Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke, their relationship as two gangster brothers, the emotions and all the acting around them is on a high level and there is nothing to criticize. The problem is the rest, because What Doesnt Kill You is a terribly ordinary film about two random siblings working for gangsters and we just watch them live their lives for two hours. The whole thing is very inconsistent, the editing feels jumbled, jumping from one scene to the next within seconds without any continuity. In short, the film gives us a lot of information and plot in a limited amount of running time, and the result feels pretty impersonal, disjointed, and doesn't give us time to find a way to connect with the characters through our own emotions. As a result, we're more or less just watching the plot hurtling forward like a train, but we're not given the space to interact with the film in any way and it's just a miserable borefest. The second star is only out of respect for the lead actors and their performance.
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