Based on the life of first-time director Brian Goodman up to the mid-1990s, What Doesn’t Kill You is an OK East Coast-set crime flick, á la The Departed or State of Grace, that treads familiar criminals-as-family territory but is bolstered by strong performances from stars Ethan Hawke and Mark Ruffalo (Reservation Road).

Seems Goodman (Ruffalo) and a childhood pal (Hawke), both South Boston natives, for a long while committed petty crimes for a local crime boss (played here by Goodman) but became restless for bigger scores. So they started doing their own jobs and suffered, and benefited, from the consequences.

When I say the film is just OK I don’t mean it’s bad, just that it tries nothing new, or is especially interesting, as a member of the crime genre. It’s also somewhat predictable. But it does do a decent job as a tale of Goodman’s redemption, of how he goes from being a jerk who does drugs all night, and then berates his wife (Amanda Peet) for wondering where he was, to being a better person for the sake of his kids.

That the guy’s transformation is believable at all is a huge credit to Ruffalo’s talent, because the script (co-written Goodman, Paul Murray and Donnie Wahlberg) depicts him as a pretty awful guy, the kind who gets shot and then barges out of the hospital wearing only his gown so he can go smoke some crack.

In fact, Ruffalo is the best thing here. He’s just right, and never overacts. He’s more than convincing as a lout, but is even better as he struggles to curb his brutish ways. He excels in quieter scenes, like firmly insisting to Peet in a restaurant that he doesn’t know the pretty waitress, or expressing his hopes and dreams, and confessing immense regrets, in a beautifully done heart-to-heart with his AA sponsor.

Hawke was great as the pushover of a brother in the recent, and excellent, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, and he’s just as good here playing the exact opposite, a cocky thug with a buzz cut who sleeps with a different girl every night. And his increasingly gaunt appearance actually works for him, giving the impression that his life of petty crime has taken a toll.

Goodman helps matters further by filming everything cleanly and clearly and by perfectly capturing the considerable chill of South Boston in the winter. He also throws in a neat twist near the end that helps show us which way one of the two lead characters wants to go with his life. Like the film itself, it’s a device that maybe you’ve seen used before and used better, but it works well enough. – [DVD]

Crime/Drama

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 4/28/09

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,