What Doesn't Kill You (film)

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,[1] detailing his own exploits involved with South Boston's Irish Mob.[2] Starring Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo, it premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival,[3] and was released on a very small scale in December 2008 due to the collapse of its distributor Yari Film Group.[4] The title alludes to the Nietzsche quote Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker (What does not kill me makes me stronger).

What Doesn't Kill You
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrian Goodman
Screenplay byDonnie Wahlberg
Brian Goodman
Paul T. Murray
Produced byMarc Frydman
Rod Lurie
Bob Yari
Starring
CinematographyChris Norr
Edited byRobert Hoffman
Music byAlex Wurman
Production
companies
Battleplan Productions
Bob Yari Productions
Distributed byYari Film Group Releasing
Release date
  • December 12, 2008 (2008-12-12)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Premise

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Hawke and Ruffalo play childhood friends Paulie and Brian, who are forced to survive on the tough streets of South Boston 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) and sons.

Cast

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Reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 65% based on 34 reviews.[5] On Metacritic the film has a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Exclusive: Brian Goodman Faces What Doesn't Kill You". comingsoon.net. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  2. ^ "What Doesn't Kill You Blurb by Dave Wedge". BostonHerald.com. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Toronto Film Festival lineup 2008". Variety. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  4. ^ Fleming, Michael (12 December 2008). "Bob Yari crashes into Chapter 11". Variety. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  5. ^ "What Doesn't Kill You Movie". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  6. ^ "What Doesn't Kill You Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
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