The story of a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing who became a symbol of the indomitable spirit of the city, Stronger is a film that tries to have it both ways. On the one hand, the picture explores the emotional toll on everyman Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal), who finds himself celebrated as a figure of hope, simply by virtue of having survived. On the other, with its swelling score and obligatory shots of noble, fluttering US flags, the film buys into the hero narrative wholesale.
With his huge haunted eyes, Gyllenhaal does a decent job of capturing the conflict of a man who can’t admit that he is struggling for fear of letting down his family and the city that supports him. Headed by Miranda Richardson as his boozy mother, the family itself is more problematic – a kind of Punch and Judy caricature of a Boston blue-collar community, all whiplash tempers and high-octane swearing.
