What Doesn't Kill You: Critic Reviews

A tough, authentic street drama born, bred, and shot in the 
 no-spin zone of working-class South Boston.

Rather it tells a good story well, and in the process quietly says a little something about what it means to look at the American dream from the bottom up.

The territory is familiar, both geographically and thematically. But that doesn't detract from its authenticity and power.

Ruffalo draws on his knack for summoning an incongruous brooding bulk from within, and the result almost sucks the air from Hawke's rangy routine of nerves and sinewy smiles.

A fine example of traditional American storytelling lined with full-bodied performances, pic is especially notable for giving Mark Ruffalo the kind of complete role this subtle, instinctive actor has long deserved yet too seldom gets.

This is a rare case of a movie that improves dramatically as it goes along.

We've all seen this film before -- two hoodlum friends from the tough, violent streets of South Boston trying to cope with the lure of easy money and the offsetting threat of jail time -- but we've never seen it this well done.

It feels, if not like real life, at least like a movie you haven't seen before.

For a true-crime story, there's surprisingly little dramatic arc.

Kill You, while stewing in the juices of unapologetic formula, is a more of a direct injection of stark criminal behavior punctuated by exhilarating performances and a soulful dedication to the moody rhythms of despair.

A mostly gripping, well-acted and surprisingly engrossing crime drama. Mark Ruffalo delivers an Oscar worthy performance that's both sensitive and surprisingly moving.

The film is caught in the tension between wanting to provide depth of social implication and gunplay action but the symbiosis doesn't multiply the effect.

The overfamiliarity of What Doesn't Kill You is redeemed by a full-scale performance from Mark Ruffalo.

Goodman doesn't allow even a hint of postmodernism or self-consciousness to creep into What Doesn't Kill You, and though the movie's various heists and shootouts are gripping, they aren't especially kinetic or stylish.

Been there, seen that-many times-is the best one can say for this wholly predictable autobiographical account of a life in crime.

I thought that Brian Goodman managed to put us in this hardscrabble South Boston neighborhood.

Nothing really going on here

...undoubtedly benefits from Ruffalo's electrifying turn as Brian...

The film is well done, gritty and raw, clearly showing the desperation in a city where opportunities are limited and crime is just another job. Ethan Hawke is a pretty risky choice as he just screams supermodel, not gangster, but after a bit of drooling,

It's admirable that Brian Goodman came back from life on the streets, two jail terms and a bad drug habit to make a movie, but considering its real life genesis the movie feels awfully warmed over

I guess I should just be happy it didn't end up worse and hope these guys don't come hurt me for saying all this.

Though hardly a failure, What Doesn't Kill You is in the final measure definitely not what it could have been.

Simply too familiar and ponderous to succeed in a genre with movies as riveting as The Departed.