The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureCinemaMovie reviews

Stronger

Stronger | Movie review
4 December 2017
Euan Franklin
Avatar
Euan Franklin
4 December 2017

Movie and show review

Euan Franklin

Stronger

★★★★★

Release date

8th December 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

Website

Many dramas about disability feature a wealthy and intelligent individual that, against all odds, lead good lives and/or change the world despite their disability. Whether it’s Stephen Hawking coming up with the Theory of Everything or Robin Cavendish improving the living conditions of severely disabled people (the subject of Andy Serkis’s directorial debut Breathe), fame and fortune is already theirs – and deservedly so. But the viewer is rarely offered an eloquent glimpse into how an ordinary person, weak or strong, deals with similar life-altering incidents. In an unpredictable step for comedy director David Gordon Green, Stronger tells the true story of Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) – a retail assistant from Boston who loses both his legs in the 2013 Boston bombings.

One wouldn’t be blamed for being sceptical about David Gordon Green being attached, considering his past in making comedies that are the lowest of the lowbrow (Your Highness, Pineapple Express…). Can he really contribute to a serious, human drama? But Green is full of surprises. John Pollono’s debut feature screenplay is natural and funny, and Green maintains its realism by not fetishising the emotions. There are no moments ripped out of the Book of Job, where Gyllenhaal shouts to God about why why why. Bauman is just a regular Joe from a regular family, trying to maintain his familial and romantic relationships despite his trauma.

There are few artificial moments, and the film sometimes feels like a blunt documentary (leaving Michael Brook’s romanticised score aside). Some sentimental annoyances slip through the barely noticed cracks, but come from a well-intentioned, truthful place. Gyllenhaal’s shattering performance flies from relaxed humour to unbearable fury, creating a permanent ambiguity with his character – is he a hero or not?

Stronger is the most legitimate disability drama in recent years. Despite the rare superficialities, there is a realism to the storytelling that’s both entertaining and devastating. Green doesn’t go over-the-top with real events, treating the bombings and Bauman’s recovery as they are and nothing more (albeit augmented by Sean Bobbitt’s dark and psychological cinematography). In many ways, this approach is more life-affirming. We can’t all formulate the universe or extend the lives of paraplegics, but Stronger reminds its audience that normal people can and do overcome the worst.

★★★★★

Euan Franklin

Stronger is released nationwide on 8th December 2017.

Watch the trailer for Stronger here:

Related Itemsfeaturedreview

More in Movie reviews

Imperial Blue

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

MLK/FBI

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Sing Me a Song

★★★★★
Abbie Grundy
Read More

A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Wonder Woman 1984

★★★★★
Jake Cudsi
Read More

Come Away

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Murder Me, Monster

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

David Byrne’s American Utopia

★★★★★
Rosamund Kelby
Read More

Dreamland

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Euan Franklin

Stronger

★★★★★

Release date

8th December 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Jeremiah Fraites – Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Hello Cosmos – Dream Harder
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Public Domain at Southwark Playhouse
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Win a copy of Link on Blu-ray
    Competitions
  • Unlimited Festival at the Southbank Centre: Centre stage for diversity
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ten short literary collections to get you back into reading
    Literature
  • Mayor
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Crown 2 | Show review
Human Flow | Movie review