Stronger (2017)

This film was pitiful , at best ! Intense, for sure , but not in a good way !! There were a lot of emotions to convey , with this story ... But , as in most movies ,over the last 10 years .. There is a huge lack ,in the choice of vocabulary !!! Wish that I had kept count of the " F " word , which started in the first 30 seconds !! Probably , in the thousands !! Sure... Hollywood thinks that the whole country uses this vulgarity ... Wrong !! Next movie that I see with this garbage , I will ask for a refund ! Please stop ... Learn to express feelings and emotions ,where every other word is not F... "Stronger " was not a film that I would recommend .... Even though the acting was fairly good .... It probably should have been used on another one of the many other tragedies on that Boston Day !! It was sad to think that anyone would have to be raised in that dysfunctional mess of a family !, I was not really expecting any feel good film , but this was depressing , in too many ways !! Thus , my 2 stars !,

Fmovies: Stronger is a brilliant film with strong performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, and especially Miranda Richardson. David Gordon Green's choice to use practical lighting and creating a setting that seems real results in an extremely sincere film. John Pollono writes a script that held true to Jeff Blauman's story by focusing more on his struggles and keeping the Boston Marathon tragedy in the background. Also boobs.

Jeff Bauman is an amazing and nice guy who went through the hell of losing both his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013, and became a huge inspiration to the people of this (Boston) area, the nation and the world. His book captured his experience with gratitude, a down to earth likable personality, and humor. None of those qualities made it into the movie, which unfortunately does him a huge disservice. The biggest problem is that virtually everyone in this pic is hugely unlikable. Hollywood also thinks that Lenny Clarke has to be in every Boston movie. There's no sense of the bigger story of the bombing and how the community truly rallied around the injured. Bauman moves back in with his alcoholic mother -- a second floor apartment, with stairs, with no modifications made for a double amputee -- and everybody goes on like nothing happened. Just not accurate. I understood that the point is that reality wasn't as inspirational as it seemed, but they depicted Bauman having an angry flashback/violent outburst when he appeared at the Bruins game to wave the flag just weeks after the bombing. Watch the video of the real event and see the pure joy on his face that boosted a whole city. It was lousy how they changed that. A few graphic scenes just not necessary. I also don't get why Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez was given a cameo when nobody else was, he was really out of place. The man who saved his life, Carlos Arredondo, is himself an amazing man and an inspirational activist who was portrayed as a sad sack whom Bauman had no desire to meet. This was also not true. On the whole I was disappointed by how ungrateful (or lazy!) Bauman was made to look, when gratitude and spirit came across so forcefully in the book. So I'm glad the movie is doing well, I'm glad people like it, and I hope it makes a lot of money. But read his book to get the real, much more amazing and inspiring story. Bauman will need financial support for the rest of his life.

Stronger fmovies. Even though there are some scenes at the end featuring 'inspirational' scenes the film mostly focuses on the recovery of the character where he is never as strong as everyone thinks him to be and he doesn't express anything to most of them either. With strong ensemble cast Stronger manages to be worth a watch even though it has a derivative plot and structure.

Oscar nomination for Jake Gyllenhaal for sure, winning? I don't thinks so, even though Americans and the academy will eat this up like a Christmas pie.

It has been a long time that I've seen a a movie where the actors performance is better than the movie itself. He will get nominated, as well as Tatiana Maslany, who I see actually having better chances of winning the Oscar, but in the end both might be going home empty handed.

Yes its a real story, but I would like to know how much of the personal stuff was actually....lets say... modified for dramatic purposes. The end is super cringy and way to American which damages the movie more than anything else. In the last 5mins the movie destroyed all the good build up. It will probably be loved in the USA, but all other countries will be very disturbed and cringed by it, as the whole patriotism and hero chanting is way to much in this movie. Still...worth watching, but I have to say, that I was a little bit disappointed in the end.

It's unfair to compare Stronger to Patriots Day, since they are entirely different features, but they will inevitably be pitted against each other in terms of quality. Luckily, both films are fantastic and present two completely different sides of the story, therefore both are worthy of being made. I was certainly moved to tears more than once in Patriots Day, but there's something truly special about Stronger. Quiet but powerful, Stronger keeps its focus on one unbelievable story without forgetting the importance of everyone banning together in Boston following the terrorist attack at the 2013 marathon.

It all starts with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany's chemistry together as Jeff Bauman and Erin Hurley, a couple severely impacted by the bombing. Jeff, learning how to walk again after having his legs blown off, became a symbol of hope for the city of Boston, and quite frankly still is. Where Patriots Day focused solely on the bombing and bombers, Stronger keeps its focus on what an event like this can do to an already trying relationship. Their relationship is the heart and soul of the film, and Maslany and Gyllenhaal do a phenomenal job of making their chemistry feel real and grounded with earned emotion. I can't tell you how many times I felt overwhelmed with emotion just watching these actors work through their scenes together.

The entire film is grounded with that emotion, though. And several performances are worthy of Oscar nominations. I personally think Gyllenhaal and Maslany should be locks, but Miranda Richardson made a strong case for the supporting category playing Bauman's mother, Patty. These actors were the sole reason that I feel Stronger transcended the typical bio-drama in every sense. I love the quiet sense of dramatic weight that Stronger had. It doesn't show a ton of blood or trauma from the bombing, nor do we get extended close-ups of Gyllenhaal's loss of legs. Instead, director David Gordon Green ops to have his actors give the audience plenty of emotion through their words and facial expressions.

Stronger is a remarkably moving experience. It's really a personal romance that transcends into something that makes a whole generation inspired. Watch out for this one, it will be a sleeper pick come Oscar season, hopefully.

9.6/10