Let me say this off the bat. I saw this film primarily because of Jake Gyllenhaal and the rave reviews he's gotten in portraying Jeff Bauman, the young man who lost his legs in the '13 Boston Marathon bombing and became a symbol of hope. Not because I think the bombing itself has not gotten enough attention and analysis from all quarters imaginable. The film is less about the day of the bombing than about Bauman's long road back afterward. On paper, this didn't look exceptionally enticing, but the rousing reviews drew me in. A well-received film with an actor of Gyllenhaal's caliber is tough to pass up.
There is enough narrative flow and great performances from Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany as his transient girlfriend and Miranda Richardson as his hard-drinking, boisterous mother to make this film worth seeing. And the depiction of the bombing itself is well-executed and flashback scenes to Bauman's ravaged condition in the seconds and minutes immediately following the blast are gritty and powerful. The depiction of the family's insensitivity to Bauman's personal hardship is a worthwhile theme here. A scene in which his friends and family are blithely watching a Red Sox game while he has a painful collapse in the bathroom is one of the film's more genuine moments. Maslany captures the girlfriend wonderfully, though I'm tempted to argue her prominence in the film has been overstated in the reviews.
But make no mistake. I've seen this kind of film many, many, many times before. It does not stand out as far as doing anything ground-breaking. It's a simple blue collar tale of struggle and recovery through sheer heart and will power, the kind of story that has been told through the ages. That's what's disingenuous about the reviews. They led me to believe this was something more than conventional. It's as tried and true as they come. Everything from Hollywood's fixation on the feisty Boston persona to the moment of a tempestuous argument between two loved ones to the bar fight with the token idiot who spouts his nonsense. And there is also that moment in the spotlight with one of your favorite sports teams while masking deep personal turmoil. You have it all here in spades. I give David Gordon Green credit in making hay with a formula that has been done before, seemingly since the earliest of days. Recommended for the great performances.
There is enough narrative flow and great performances from Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany as his transient girlfriend and Miranda Richardson as his hard-drinking, boisterous mother to make this film worth seeing. And the depiction of the bombing itself is well-executed and flashback scenes to Bauman's ravaged condition in the seconds and minutes immediately following the blast are gritty and powerful. The depiction of the family's insensitivity to Bauman's personal hardship is a worthwhile theme here. A scene in which his friends and family are blithely watching a Red Sox game while he has a painful collapse in the bathroom is one of the film's more genuine moments. Maslany captures the girlfriend wonderfully, though I'm tempted to argue her prominence in the film has been overstated in the reviews.
But make no mistake. I've seen this kind of film many, many, many times before. It does not stand out as far as doing anything ground-breaking. It's a simple blue collar tale of struggle and recovery through sheer heart and will power, the kind of story that has been told through the ages. That's what's disingenuous about the reviews. They led me to believe this was something more than conventional. It's as tried and true as they come. Everything from Hollywood's fixation on the feisty Boston persona to the moment of a tempestuous argument between two loved ones to the bar fight with the token idiot who spouts his nonsense. And there is also that moment in the spotlight with one of your favorite sports teams while masking deep personal turmoil. You have it all here in spades. I give David Gordon Green credit in making hay with a formula that has been done before, seemingly since the earliest of days. Recommended for the great performances.