Stronger

Stronger is a biographical film based on the memoir of the same name by Jeff Bauman and Bret Witter. It follows Bauman, who loses his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing and must adjust to his new life. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Bauman, with Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, and Clancy Brown in supporting roles.

For those who may not know, Boston is by far my favourite American city simply due to the fact that I passionately support all of their major sporting teams. And when the tragic Marathon bombing occurred in 2013 I was so deeply saddened by the needless loss of life but at the same time I was extremely moved by the way in which sport was able to allow the Boston community to heal from the event. The BOSTON STRONG slogan that was coined in the aftermath was something that I really gravitated towards and totally epitomised the true spirit and resolve of Bostonians. 

The film does something that I really love which is depicting some of my favourite sporting teams on film. You get to see the likes of the Boston Bruins and the Boston Red Sox which is so awesome for me. Seeing TD Garden and Fenway Park beautifully shown on screen gave me spine tingling goosebumps and a huge smile on my dial. It was such a joy to watch.

Stronger gives a very personal insight into how an individual and the loved ones around them work to recover from being severely injured in a terrorist attack and faithfully depicts the struggles both physically and mentally that you would most likely face in the aftermath.

Jake Gyllenhaal does a wonderful job portraying Bauman. He is emotional and expressive with his dialogue delivery but is also able to show the mental anguish Baurman suffered just through his non-verbal communication.

Tatiana Maslany was also outstanding as Bauman's girlfriend, Erin Hurley. She is such a powerful performer being able to show Hurley in both powerful and subdued lights. Maslany's Hurley shows how the ones we love can be impacted after a tragic, life changing event occurs and contrasts and balances the hurt and pain Bauman suffers in a really thought provoking way. Maslany is most definitely a star on the rise. Her performance in Stronger is by far her best to date after the conclusion of her Emmy Award winning television show Orphan Black and all she needs is one role that gains mainstream attention to catapult her to stardom and to become a household name. I'm sure that this will happen, it's only a matter of time.

It's really disappointing that Stronger didn't garner more awards season buzz because it really deserved it. The film is far better than some of the other nominated films so it is unfortunate that the voters didn't give Stronger, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany more consideration.

The other really disappointing thing was the extremely limited release that Stronger received here in Australia. Out of our three major cinema chains, only one of those decided to screen the film and would only show it once per day at 10AM. The film deserved more attention but many people will miss out on this amazing film which is so sad. Hopefully it will be one of those word of mouth films that gets a bit of a second life when it gets a home release.

Stronger is such an underrated film that gives a faithful and respectful retelling of the terrible events of the Boston Marathon Bombings, that instead of completely focusing only on the hardship that occurred also manages to show the immense amount of hope that people like Jeff Bauman's story gave to the people of Boston. If you have the chance to catch Stronger in the cinema I highly suggest you do, otherwise look out for it once the DVD/Blu-Ray is available.  

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