Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 helps the police track down the killers while struggling to recover from devastating trauma.
Stronger tells the true story of Jeff Bauman with earnest sincerity, anchored by a genuinely exceptional performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, who fully inhabits the physical and emotional devastation of traumatic injury and recovery. Tatiana Maslany is equally strong as his girlfriend. The plot is solid but follows a fairly familiar arc of tragedy, struggle, and resilience that doesn't distinguish itself dramatically from other inspirational true-story dramas of its kind—particularly coming in the wake of Patriots Day covering the same event. Cinematography is competent and gritty but unremarkable. The ending is emotionally earned through the performances rather than any particular narrative ingenuity. Novelty is limited given the well-trodden genre conventions and the proximity to other Boston Marathon bombing films.