Stronger is a weird movie for David Gordon Green. For the director Green, Stronger is a big budget crowd pleaser lacking the smallness of All the Real Girls or the copious pot smoking of Pineapple Express. Thankfully, he’s got the talented acting duo of Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany to help keep the story from falling off the drug-induced rails. Even though stronger is a straightforward crowd pleaser, the talented trio put enough juice and spin on the material that you feel like you watched something new.
Though the Boston Marathon bombing introduced us to many heroes, Jeff Bauman (Gyllenhaal) doesn’t always think he is one. Simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, Bauman was at the finish line hoping to win back the heart of marathon runner Erin Hurley (Tatiana Maslany), a hospital administrator he had just broken up with. However, by identifying a bomber and losing both his legs, Jeff is enveloped by the “Boston Strong” movement. This movement at first is awesome, with Jeff enjoying his celebrity (especially in the sporting world) and Erin back in his life. However, Jeff’s residual PTSD and new legless existence grows frustrating, and his past poor decision making didn’t just stop because he’s a hero.
A novice director would just focus on the courageous and empathetic part of Jeff’s personality. Not Gordon Green. The director (as well as John Pollono the screenwriter) opt for the “warts and all” approach, which works perfectly for Jeff Bauman. Kudos to the real guy for letting Gyllenhaal dive deep into his psyche. Stronger posits the question: what happens when a symbol of hope and good is kind of a screw up? Bauman’s single mom Patty (Miranda Richardson) is not prepared to personally take an active role into her son’s recovery, so he slacks on his physical therapy, opting to go out drinking with his friends instead. Jeff also uses his situation to keep Erin around, using the woman’s natural empathy for the hurt sort of against her. Naturally, because of who he is, he neglects her and her needs, actively forgetting to text/go out with her as time goes on as an example. This puts Erin in a difficult decision to potentially leave this hero, this symbol, but does she really care about him? Or does she just pity him? Stronger makes us really think about these questions, as uncomfortable as they may be, but as a result we get a really great character study of a man (and the woman he’s wooing) dealing with trauma and drastic life changes thrust upon them.
It helps that the 2 leads were ready to act. Jake Gyllenhaal continues his streak of playing interesting, challenging characters. Gyllenhaal makes Bauman do some very unlikable things, but uses the Gyllenhaal charm and talent to give Bauman a likability maybe the guy doesn’t deserve. Gyllenhaal also nails all the legless physical acting, which must have been hard to pull off. Every bit his equal is Tatiana Maslany, playing just one person this time. Maybe that’s why she’s good here. Erin is a little bit manic pixie dream girl: she wants to fix Jeff with every fiber in her body; however, Maslany takes that boring role and injects enough agency and inner will to make the audience wish for a happier ending for Erin than for Jeff, in no small part thanks to Maslany. Miranda Richardson is really great as Jeff’s borderline incompetent mother, selling all her nonsensical logic with the ferocity of a Bostonian chainsmoker.
Stronger lacks a bit in the plot and character development front, but it is still a very uplifting story about victory over adversity. The adversity in this case isn’t just PTSD from a horrific bombing, but the day to day struggle of growing more mature. I am curious how many of Miranda Richardson’s cigarettes were actually pot; this is after all a David Gordon Green film.