Bauman manages to survive the bombing, but in the ensuing explosion, he's lost his legs. Being one of the survivors of this explosion as well as helping give the FBI information regarding the identity of the bomber has made Bauman a national hero, though he's uncomfortable with the large amount of overwhelming media attention he's received recently due to both PTSD-like symptoms and his adjustment to living life without legs. From here, Stronger chronicles Jeff Bauman's recovery, which is far from being a one-way street of easy resolutions and tidy acceptance of new circumstances as Bauman makes plenty of mistakes in modifying himself to his new status quo.
For those like myself who were wondering if Stronger would just be Patriot's Day redux in terms of being a substance-free cinematic depiction of people going through the aftermath of the March 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing can rest easy. This David Gordon Green-helmed motion picture takes a more realistic approach to following Jeff Bauman and his recovery, one that eschews a glossy version of coming to terms with a new reality thrust upon you in favor of something that doesn't sand the edges of Bauman's struggles with his new physical condition. Bauman may have become an idol to many, but he was still a human being, one with plenty of faults and plenty of virtues to speak of.
John Pollono's screenplay does a fine job of capturing that truth while also pondering some surprisingly weighty ideas such as the process of turning survivors of tragedies into one-note symbols can remove their humanity from the larger conversation as well as Bauman's fear of being seen as mentally vulnerable in his recovery by his male family members led to him keeping his psychological issues a secret. Like I said, this is not the easy version of this tale, but Pollono's writing makes a notably realistic and absorbing depiction of this story. All of that having been said, Pollono's depiction of trademark Boston dialogue does sometimes dive into being a parody of itself while a climactic baseball-stadium-set sequence starts out as feeling out of place with the movies overall themes before saving itself with a well-executed scene that caps out this segment of the story with some well-done pathos.
Playing the real-life figure of Jeff Bauman himself is Jake Gyllenhaal, whose recent pieces of acting seem to have him channeling directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller of all people. Just as Lord and Miller take concepts that feel like they're rote cash-grabs and turn them int spectacular motion pictures, Gyllenhaal has recently taken roles that could have been hammy disasters and turned such parts into layered human beings. For Jeff Bauman, Gyllenhaal is able to make the guys immaturity clear from the get-go in an opening scene when he shirks his Costco responsibilities for baseball, but even here there's a boyish charm to Gyllenhaal's performance that makes it clear why people don't mind being around him. Giving his performance such a youthful spirit makes Gyllenhaal's depiction of Bauman suffering the pain of his injuries all the more powerful to experience.
Playing against him is Tatiana Maslany as Erin Hurley. Now, I haven't watched Orphan Black, so I've had no prior to this exposure to this raved-about actor but I can definitely see why she's garnered so much hype given the strong work she puts in here that gives Hurley a lot more depth and personality than other girlfriend characters you see in these type of biopic dramas. She and Gyllenhaal also have some great chemistry together as they work under the direction of David Gordon Green who seems to be now gunning for the position of most versatile filmmaker working in Hollywood as this guy keeps hopping from one genre to the next (his next movie is that new Halloween sequel). If his future dramas were half as good as the emotionally resonant Stronger though, I would encourage him to return to the world of thoughtful dramas in the near future.
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