''What Doesn't Kill You'' is a 2008 American crime drama loosely based on the true life story of the film's director Brian Goodman, detailing his own exploits involved with

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

's Irish Mob. Starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

and

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1980s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play ''This Is Our Youth'' (1996) and drama film ''You Can Count on Me'' (2000) ...

, it premiered at the

2008 Toronto International Film Festival The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008. The opening night gala was the World War I romantic epic '' Passchendaele'' from Cana ...

, and was released on a very small scale in December 2008 due to the collapse of its distributor Yari Film Group. The title alludes to the

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

quote (What does not kill me makes me stronger).

Premise

Hawke and Ruffalo play childhood friends Paulie and Brian, who are forced to survive on the tough streets of

through a life of petty thievery. They join a local gang of criminals, but Brian finds it hard to reconcile his work and friendship with Paulie and his relationship with his wife (

Amanda Peet Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television before making her feature film debut in ''Animal Room'' (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in ''The Whole Nine Yards (film), Th ...

) and sons.

Cast

as Brian Reilly *

as Paulie McDougan *

as Stacy Reilly *

Lenny Clarke Lenny Clarke (born September 16, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for his thick Boston accent and as the role of Uncle Teddy on the series '' Rescue Me''. Early life Clarke was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September ...

as Hogie *

Will Lyman William Lyman (born May 20, 1948) is an American actor. Known for his polished, resonant voice, he has narrated the PBS series '' Frontline'' since its second season in 1984. He played William Tell in the action/adventure television series ''Cr ...

as Sully * Brian Goodman as Pat Kelly *

Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, actor and producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has starred in the TV drama series ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloo ...

as Detective Moran *

Angela Featherstone Angela Featherstone (born 3 April 1965) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, and advocate for children in foster care. She was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Career Modeling Within a year of emancipating herself from foster ca ...

as Katie *

Lindsey McKeon Lindsey McKeon (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Marah Lewis on ''Guiding Light'' and Taylor James on '' One Tree Hill''. She previously starred on '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' as Katie Peters ...

as Nicole

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of 65% based on 34 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

the film has a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * * * {{rotten-tomatoes, what_doesnt_kill_you 2008 films 2008 crime drama films 2008 directorial debut films 2000s heist films American crime drama films American heist films Crime films based on actual events Films about the Irish Mob Films scored by Alex Wurman Films set in Boston Films shot in Massachusetts 2000s English-language films Films directed by Brian Goodman 2000s American films English-language crime drama films