Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Leofwine_draca WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU is a film which has familiarity working against it. It's a working class crime drama about a couple of brothers who live in a world of petty theft, general criminality and drugs, and the story sees one of them trying to go straight and make good for his family. The film is based on the experiences of writer/director Brian Goodman, but the tropes are so similar to many films which have come before that the viewer feels rather jaded by it all.Saying that, the film does have one saving grace, which is a lead role for Mark Ruffalo. Others like Donnie Wahlberg and Ethan Hawke are okay, but it's Ruffalo who shines in a star-making turn here. Ruffalo has been one of my favourite modern actors in Hollywood for a while, delivering compelling performances in ZODIAC and SPOTLIGHT among others, and he's equally authentic here; you can see the anguish lurking behind his eyes. Without Ruffalo, this would have been a slog to sit through; with him it's pretty decent.

SnoopyStyle Life long friends Brian Reilly (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie McDougan (Ethan Hawke) are from South Boston struggling in a life of crime. The movie starts with an armor truck robbery. Then it flashbacks to kids doing petty theft. As young men, they are thugs for the local boss. Times are tough and they're reduced to a job dognapping a poodle. Brian is a bad druggie husband to Stacy Reilly (Amanda Peet) and the kids. The duo starts robbing drug dealers which gets them into trouble. Brian gets shot badly and then they're arrested.It's another movie about the low life in South Boston. It has a couple of great actors doing good jobs. It has the sense of the place. However there are better movies of its kind elsewhere. Its main failing is the comparison. Nevertheless Ruffalo does an outstanding performance.

themightyredemption This is a very underrated film. I think its a shame it never has gotten publicity. I randomly picked it up on the fly for free a local library on DVD and was amazed that I never even have heard of it. There are no gimmicks or high wire stunts this was true to life. We need more of these films to rejuvenate what the cinema has become lately. I was thoroughly impressed on all levels with this film. This could of done very well in the box office if it had marketing at the time. Sadly CGI and fake acting has trumped modern cinema lately. This gritty true to life story beats them all hands down. I give it an 8/10, simply based upon the rehashing of older story-lines together. It still holds its own charm. Rent this movie and you will be surprised how well it was done.

meeza Time for "yet another cliché" time: They say "what doesn't kill you" makes you stronger. Well, the crime drama "What Doesn't Kill You" makes me "yawn"der. Not to say that I do not commend Director Brian Goodman's bravado & courageous attempt to orchestrate a film narrative based on his real-life crime & alcoholic ridden past in the streets of South Boston. However, I was sporadically bored with some misfires of "What Doesn't Kill You". Mark Ruffalo stars as Brian Reilly, the character which Goodman's past is based on. Let's say that the Reilly Factor is surrounded with: drug dealing & consuming, drunken binges, theft & larceny, adultery, and a few more "no-no" misbehaviors. The Life of Brian also consists of a beautiful & impatient wife, two innocent young songs, and Brian's partner in crime: his childhood best friend Paulie. Brian & Paulie got into being Boston Ruins already as teenagers when they started working for crime boss Pat Kelly, and it gradually spurned into a profound life of constant crime into adulthood by standing pat in continuing to work for Kelly. Brian did pick up a family along the way and Paulie picked up loose women along the way. Paulie also want a cracker? Yes, due to all the narcotic dealings Paulie scammed up in the streets of South Boston. Nevertheless, the main character & plot gun of "What Doesn't Kill You" is Brian with his constant struggle to fight the ill pills of crime & alcoholism in order to be faithful to his wife and supportive to his sons. Even through jail terms and being shot three times to near mortality, Brian still has much trouble resisting the life of Crime Brian because it is all he has ever known. Ruffalo was very effective as Brian Reilly, and Ethan Hawke was in par with Ruffalo with his killer performance as Paulie. Would of have loved to see more of Donnie Wahlberg's stellar work as Detective Moran, Goodman underdeveloped that pivotal character. Amanda Peet was moderately impressive as Brian's wife Stacy, and Brian Goodman himself was a good man acting playing the shady character Pat Kelly. However, Goodman was not so good in directing too many repetitive overwrought scenes that did not move the story in any revelatory method, and should have been charged with second-degree cinematic robbery by stealing similar dialogue from other crime-drama genre films. In his defense though, Goodman is a novice filmmaker and shows promise & potential that what doesn't kill him in the movie industry will make him a stronger director. Goodman just a few years ago was in prison, so it is a tremendous accomplishment in the life change he has endured and also in bringing it to film; so one has to admire that "Goodman Redemption" resilient quality. It will not kill you to witness "What Doesn't' Kill You" but it will not make you cinematically stronger. *** Average