What Doesn't Kill You (2008)

Director:

Brian Goodman

Writers:

Brian Goodman (writer)
Paul T. Murray (writer)

Release Date:

10 September 2009 (Portugal)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Everyone has a choice. Every choice has a consequence.

Plot:

Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.

Plot Keywords:

Boston | Friendship | Letter | Murder | Boston Massachusetts

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mark Ruffalo	...	Brian Reilly
Ethan Hawke	...	Paulie McDougan
Amanda Peet	...	Stacy Reilly
Will Lyman	...	Sully
Brian Goodman	...	Pat Kelly
Donnie Wahlberg	...	Detective Moran
Angela Featherstone	...	Katie
Edward Lynch	...	Jackie (as Eddie Lynch)
Michael Yebba	...	Roundman / Old Lady
Brian Connolly	...	Sean
Nathaniel Smyth	...	Mark (5 Years Old)
Oscar Wahlberg	...	Mark (10 Years Old)
Thomas Regan	...	Young Paulie
Jean-Pierre Serret	...	Young Brian
George Khoury	...	Delivery Man

Also Known As:

Real Men Cry (USA) (working title)
As Teias do Crime (Portugal) [pt]
O kodikas tou eglimatos (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for language, drug use, some violence and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:18A (Toronto International Film Festival) | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Battleplan Productions

Trivia:

The movie is based on Brian Goodman's own life up to the mid 1990s.

Soundtrack:

Funktastic Galactical Rock

What Doesn't Kill You does not make you wiser but I still recommend it!

Time for "yet another cliché" time: They say "what doesn't kill you" makes you stronger. Well, the crime drama "What Doesn't Kill You" makes me "yawn"der. Not to say that I do not commend Director Brian Goodman's bravado & courageous attempt to orchestrate a film narrative based on his real-life crime & alcoholic ridden past in the streets of South Boston. However, I was sporadically bored with some misfires of "What Doesn't Kill You". Mark Ruffalo stars as Brian Reilly, the character which Goodman's past is based on. Let's say that the Reilly Factor is surrounded with: drug dealing & consuming, drunken binges, theft & larceny, adultery, and a few more "no-no" misbehaviors. The Life of Brian also consists of a beautiful & impatient wife, two innocent young songs, and Brian's partner in crime: his childhood best friend Paulie. Brian & Paulie got into being Boston Ruins already as teenagers when they started working for crime boss Pat Kelly, and it gradually spurned into a profound life of constant crime into adulthood by standing pat in continuing to work for Kelly. Brian did pick up a family along the way and Paulie picked up loose women along the way. Paulie also want a cracker? Yes, due to all the narcotic dealings Paulie scammed up in the streets of South Boston. Nevertheless, the main character & plot gun of "What Doesn't Kill You" is Brian with his constant struggle to fight the ill pills of crime & alcoholism in order to be faithful to his wife and supportive to his sons. Even through jail terms and being shot three times to near mortality, Brian still has much trouble resisting the life of Crime Brian because it is all he has ever known. Ruffalo was very effective as Brian Reilly, and Ethan Hawke was in par with Ruffalo with his killer performance as Paulie. Would of have loved to see more of Donnie Wahlberg's stellar work as Detective Moran, Goodman underdeveloped that pivotal character. Amanda Peet was moderately impressive as Brian's wife Stacy, and Brian Goodman himself was a good man acting playing the shady character Pat Kelly. However, Goodman was not so good in directing too many repetitive overwrought scenes that did not move the story in any revelatory method, and should have been charged with second-degree cinematic robbery by stealing similar dialogue from other crime-drama genre films. In his defense though, Goodman is a novice filmmaker and shows promise & potential that what doesn't kill him in the movie industry will make him a stronger director. Goodman just a few years ago was in prison, so it is a tremendous accomplishment in the life change he has endured and also in bringing it to film; so one has to admire that "Goodman Redemption" resilient quality. It will not kill you to witness "What Doesn't' Kill You" but it will not make you cinematically stronger. *** Average