What Doesn’t Kill You - Movie Review and Synopsis

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Category: Movies. Tags: Brian Goodman, Crime, Drama, Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Balcanoff.

What Doesn't Kill You Two lifelong friends who have survived the mean streets of South Boston find it increasingly hard to maintain a balance between their personal lives and the “jobs” they take for a local crime boss (Goodman).

WDKY marks the arrival of actor-turned-director Brian Goodman, who mined his personal experiences in order to generate this story of two friends quickly moving in opposite directions in their lives, with both of them facing potential dead ends. Since the drama’s debut at the Toronto Film Festival back in September, critics have indicated that Goodman’s ultra-convincing story, as well as the interplay between Ruffalo and Hawke (“career bests,” we hear), take the familiar-sounding tale to new heights. Let’s see how well Yari Film Group does in getting the word out on this one; the studio has kept most of their films under wraps this year (The Accidental Husband, Assassination of a High School President), though they are making an awards-season push with this film and Nothing But the Truth.

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