After first seeing him in Zodiac on the big screen,it has been wonderful to see Mark Ruffalo become a part of major franchises and Oscar winning Dramas,whilst also noticing Ethan Hawke get back on track with a mix of Horror (the first Purge and Sinister) and major Art House projects such as Boyhood. Talking to a family friend about films he recently recorded off TV,I was shocked to find out about a rarely mentioned title that teams Ruffalo up with Hawke(ye),that led to me finding out what doesn't kill you.The plot:Growing up poor in Boston,teenage friends Brian Reilly and Paulie McDougan become petty criminals for gangster Pat Kelly. Growing up with Kelly, Reilly and McDougan become a part of his inner circle over the years,with the only thing that the guys turn down being armoured vehicle robberies. Trying to keep a family together with his wife Stacy,Brian finds the temptations too much to resist,and becomes a druggie. Whilst picking up some TVs that "fell" off the back of a truck,the guys are caught by an undercover cop who has had his eyes on them for years. Sent down for 5 years in the big house,Brian and Paulie start to find out that what doesn't kill you, will make them stronger.View on the film:Running out of hospital in the freezing cold for another "hit" Mark Ruffalo gives an incredible raw performance as Reilly.Spending his whole life working for Kelly with McDougan,Ruffalo subtly captures Reilly's awareness of being in a Noir tar pit,but also a burnt-out mind-set of getting free from the next mob/drug hit. Joined by a wonderfully expressive Amanda Peet as Reilly's wife Stacy, (plus a side order of two Wahlberg's for some Boston spirit) Ethan Hawke gives a great fragile performance as Paulie,who Hawke makes stand out to Reilly by holding Paulie with an optimism that is always on the horizon,but never reached.Bringing his life story to the screen,co-writer/(with Donnie Wahlberg and Paul T. Murray) co-star (playing his former boss!) director Brian Goodman & cinematographer Chris Norr (who reunited with Hawke for Sinister) roll into Boston on a wave of blue collar Neo-Noir hovering above a frosty atmosphere of streets covered in snow that give Reilly and McDougan's "tasks" an ice cool shine. Cracking the door open to Reilly's fractured married life, Goodman gives the title a rustic tone,picking up corners of fading walls and keeping a distance to show the full misdeeds of the Noir duo.Falling into cinemas as the studio went bust,the screenplay by Donnie Wahlberg/Paul T. Murray and Goodman fittingly presents a Noir Drama whose edges bleed with an impending sense of doom. Spanning 8 years,the writers brilliantly bring the world pushing Reilly and McDougan's out into the Noir darkness into focus with clever underhanded ways,from the cost of living in their old neighbourhood becoming un-affordable,to Reilly completely missing major family events behind bars. Tightening the grip drugs and crime have on the friends,the writers strip any darkness to expose the hopeless Noir pit that they are trapped in,as Reilly and McDougan discover what does kill you.

This was a pretty intense movie, but it felt as though as I watching it in fast forward. What Doesn't Kill You is the story of two brothers, who grow up in poverty and whom turned to organized crime to survive. For fifteen years, they did what they were told, but with the boss on his way to prison, they decide to go off on their own. Admittedly, it's a tremendous story that follows the paths of these brothers over the course of the next few years, the problem was that in this movie, years translate into about 10 minute intervals. Instead of giving us a complete and accurate portrayal, the director decided to cut the story into small fragments, usually no longer than a minute or two. Something is said, something happens, and then were on to another something, when? where? who knows!? The movie moved so fast and was so choppy, that it left my head spinning. Despite the confusion, it was pretty entertaining and Mark Ruffalo gives an unbelievable performance. Here's another example of a guy I've seen around, never thought much of, who randomly shows up in a B-movie and just makes the whole film worth watching. If you're able to keep up, and this movie doesn't confuse you into an absolute stupor, it's not bad. The story is solid, the cast is good, and it has it's moments, but again only if you can get passed the ridiculous pace the director has decided to set for us.

"What Doesn't Kill You" is a slight but well acted tale of two childhood friends, Paulie and Brian, who struggle to make ends meet in Southern Bostom. The duo turn to crime at an early age, and soon find themselves working full-time for an Irish crime lord who tasks the couple with conducting local robberies. The pay's poor, but things will get better. Won't they? The film then flashes forward several decades, but only to find Paulie and Brian, now played by actors Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo, still conducting petty robberies. Money's hard to come by, their bosses take a large percentage of their earnings, and the duo begin to grow disillusioned. The rest of the film plays like a small-scale version of "Donnie Brasco", watching as organised crime sucks the life out of hard working foot-soldiers who exist in a kind of despondent stasis, waiting and waiting and hoping and hoping for something better as life itself passes them by.The film was directed by Brian Goodman, and is reportedly based on his own true-life story growing up in Irish mobs. Amongst the cast, Ruffalo stands out as a word-weary, lethargic guy caught in a cruel loop. It's "Mean Streets" meets the Myth of Sisyphus, Hawke and Ruffalo hoping and toiling for a better tomorrow that doesn't come. The film closes on Ruffalo's son, Ruffalo hoping that his kid escapes this demented vortex. The guy's proud of his kid; maybe he'll make it.The film's title is interesting. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so the saying goes, but here survival is akin to a kind of condemnation.Aesthetically the film's anonymously shot, though one helicopter fly-over of a wintry, snow capped Bostom stands out. As is typical of these films, all female roles are reduced to either eye-candy or screaming wives.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

why does IMDb require 10 lines, are they insane or just control freaks?All I have to say about this movie is WATCH IT. You will not be disappointed. It is a great film about a "class" or "group" of people, could be just about any group, Irish, Mexican, Italian, Puerto Rican, Iranian, Polish, Cuban... who live in a small community and have limited opportunities because of education and upbringing... not that everyone in such a situation will end up like these guys but this story is being played out day after day in each of America's ethnic communities. Bravo to the actors and director.MORE LINES ARE NEEDED SO....this story is being played out day after day in each of America's ethnic communities. Bravo to the actors and director.