On April 15th, 2013, the world was shocked when an act of terror took place at the finish line of one of the world's biggest marathons. Just over four years later, and we now have two movies telling stories of this tragedy. 2017's Patriot's Day did a great job of telling the story from the perspective of officials and explaining the manhunt behind finding those responsible. As well as beautifully paying tribute to the victims and installing hope in the minds' of the audience. Stronger tackles all of those notes as well, while making for a more heartfelt film. I believe it is one of the most emotional movie going experiences of the year.
The film follows Jeff Bauman, a man in his mid-twenties that was at the finish line of the marathon to support his ex-girlfriend, Erin. She claims that he never shows up so he goes to the marathon with a big sign for her to prove her wrong. Unfortunately, he finds himself right next to a point of attack and loses both of his legs. The audience then watches as Jeff brings hope to the world by rebuilding his relationship with Erin and trying his best to walk once again.
Jeff is played by one of my favourite actors, Jake Gyllenhaal. This role is quite different from recent performances that Gyllenhaal has given and I think he was absolutely phenomenal. As usual with his performances, he fully immerses himself into the role and becomes the character, both physically and emotionally. His messy, distraught hair and brown contacts make him look the part, but his very well done Boston accent and gut-wrenching emotion push this performance to another level. Gyllenhaal is undoubtedly fantastic but would be incomplete without an excellent counterpart; that's what we get with Tatiana Maslany's performance as Erin. Maslany portrays Erin amazingly, doing a great job acting as someone in Erin's position would. She isn't just there to complement Gyllenhaal, Erin is a very powerful character on her own and has some very strong moments throughout the film. The chemistry between these two is absolutely off the charts. I always appreciate when a film feels real, and the dynamic between these two felt almost like watching real life. We are taken through Jeff and Erin's highs and lows and believe every solitary second of them, thanks to these amazing actors and a script that is as equally heartbreaking as it is heartwarming. While I thought most of the performances were solid, I found Jeff's mother to be a very obnoxious character, and I don't think the actress that portrayed her measured up to the talent around her.
David Gordon Green does a great job directing in this film. As I said before, it felt incredibly real, which is always something I enjoy. He also knows the right times to inject some fun into the movie, which in an emotional ride like this is very important. Overall I think the story is well constructed. The dialogue is great from start to finish but I think the script needed more development in some areas and less in others. For example, the film wastes no time getting to the bombing, it happens after less than 10 minutes. Since it happens so quickly, Jeff and Erin's relationship is introduced rather sloppily and I believe more could have been done to establish what their relationship was prior to the bombing. There are also small areas within the second and early third act were some scenes started to drag and lose my interest. These scenes stood out since the rest of the movie is so well done. I think cutting a bit from the middle and adding some time at the beginning to better introduce the characters would allow this movie to be overall more cohesive.
Minor story struggles aside, this film is an emotional roller coaster that left me feeling both fragile and full of hope. Initially I didn't think we needed two movies about the marathon bombing, but after seeing both films, I'm very glad that we have both works depicting the events in different, but still hope inducing ways. The chemistry between the leads, and the direction by David Gordon Green make this movie a must see.
Rating: 4.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Edited by Amelia Lind
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