When tasked with recreating a recent tragedy on screen, film-makers find themselves toeing a precarious line between respect and exploitation, the end result too often being met with outraged accusations of “too soon!” by an understandably angry mob. So while films about the second world war still prove largely profitable (Dunkirk’s mammoth $414m global take is recent proof of this), there’s less consistency when covering events that are more fresh in the memory. Last year, Peter Berg’s one-two punch of Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day both struggled to attract much of an audience, strong reviews doing little to persuade audiences to relive real world horrors that still linger at the forefront.
The events of the latter film also act as a backdrop for this striking new drama from director David Gordon Green. In Stronger, the Boston marathon bombing itself is not the primary focus but more of a starting point for the journey of a man caught in the middle of the tragedy and struggling with the road to recovery.
Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is trying to make amends with his on-off girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany). Her biggest problem, the issue that continues to divide them, is that he just doesn’t show up. Keen to show her that he’s someone worth relying on, he lovingly creates a banner and plans to surprise her as she finishes the Boston marathon. But tragedy strikes and a terrorist attack leaves Jeff in the hospital, both of his legs amputated. An uncertain road lies ahead for Jeff and Erin with instant celebrity, pain and rehabilitation threatening to either tear them apart or pull them closer together.
During the majority of Stronger, I was struck with the feeling that a far more generic, far less humane version of this story could have so easily been made instead. It’s borderline Lifetime TV movie territory, and what can seem so inspiring on paper can often feel weighed down with sugar and cliche on screen. But Green proves to be a fine choice as director, an unusual career flitting between lo-fi indie fare like George Washington and Undertow and stoner James Franco comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness somehow making him the perfect fit for the material.
He’s keenly aware of the familiar territory, and there’s a constant effort to make intriguing rather than safe directorial choices. There’s an effective sense of small-scale intimacy throughout, Green striving for authenticity within the delicate dynamic of Jeff and his loved ones rather than attempting to tell the entire story that surrounds them. There’s a wonderfully effective moment in the hospital when bandages are being taken off that Green decides to tell entirely within the constructed world of Jeff and Erin. Everything else is a blur and the focus remains on them. Similarly as Jeff leaves for the first time, the camera remains on his face, capturing his every emotion as he copes with life on a wheelchair and the waiting paparazzi.
It’s a refreshingly unconventional style that also allows Gyllenhaal the opportunity to truly impress. Another actor could have struggled with such naked camera work, the mechanics of their work seeming, well, mechanical, but Gyllenhaal is effortlessly good here. It’s an awards-worthy performance for a star who so often gets miscast and he sells both the good and the bad within Bauman. It’s pleasing, in a field full of overly deferential biopics, to see a fact-based drama based on a book written by the subject, that still contains nuance. Bauman is not a saint: he’s often selfish and immature, and by keeping these flaws in the movie, we become that much more involved in his story.
The script, written by actor John Pollono, works by focusing on the details. There’s a studied, informed portrayal of the minutiae that comes with such a loss. How does one cope with using the toilet? How does a fitting for artificial legs actually work? How does everyday intimacy change between a couple? There’s a particularly poignant scene between Jeff and Erin when he tells her: “I wish you were leaning on me”. The day-to-day tasks of his life are affected but so is his masculinity and by keeping a tight focus on the couple, Green’s film carries us with them as they confront new challenges.
Maslany is a perfectly cast partner here, delivering an equally naturalistic performance, erring on the right side of sentimentality and there’s also fine support from Miranda Richardson as Jeff’s hard-drinking mother.
Stronger is a film filled with warmth and humanity, but one that doesn’t sugarcoat the reality that comes with it. Bauman is an inspiring figure but he’s also just a guy, full of imperfections like everyone else. Throughout the film he finds the title of ‘hero’ to be unearned and there’s a similar avoidance of loftiness by Green and Gyllenhaal, who both work hard at grounding the film. For some, it might seem too underplayed but by keeping things small, it somehow feels that much bigger.
- Stronger screened at the Toronto film festival and will be released on 22 September in the US and on 8 December in the UK
