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What Doesn't Kill You (2008)

R  |   |  Crime, Drama  |  10 September 2009 (Portugal)
6.6
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Ratings: 6.6/10 from 9,325 users   Metascore: 71/100
Reviews: 41 user | 48 critic | 10 from Metacritic.com

Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Roundman / Old Lady (as Mike Yebba)
Brian Connolly ...
Nathaniel Smyth ...
Mark (5 Years Old)
Oscar Wahlberg ...
Mark (10 Years Old)
Thomas Regan ...
...
Young Brian (as Jean Pierre 'JP' Serret)
George Khoury ...
Delivery Man
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Storyline

An armored car is robbed by three men. A passing police officer and one of the robbers exchange fire. The robber is Paulie. In a flashback we follow him and his closest friend, Brian, as they grow up together in South Boston. They're tough guys, thugs, doing jobs for the local boss and chaffing to do more. Paulie's the leader. Brian drinks too much and free bases, ignoring his wife and two young boys. Life-changing events lead him to try to go straight, look for work, take what comes his way, and go to A.A. meetings. He struggles. Paulie shows him the plans for the armored car job. Will they do it? "I am who I am," Brian tells his wife. Is crime his only skill? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Everyone has a choice. Every choice has a consequence. See more »

Genres:

Crime | Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug use, some violence and brief sexuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

10 September 2009 (Portugal)  »

Also Known As:

Real Men Cry  »

Filming Locations:


Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is based on Brian Goodman's own life up to the mid 1990s. See more »

Goofs

In the scene where Brian is in the hospital after being shot outside of the bar he is yelling at the nurse because he wants more pain medication, there is a dry erase board above his head that says "no BP on left side" and he has a blood pressure cuff on his left arm. See more »

Quotes

Brian Reilly: It's like a morgue in here. I wanna be dead like you guys.
See more »

Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The Avengers Special (2012) See more »

Soundtracks

Funktastic Galactical Rock
Written by Swamp Dogg (as Jerry Williams)
Performed by Swamp Dogg
Courtesy of S.D.E.G. Records
By arrangement with MS-Pro
See more »

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User Reviews

 
Fascinating and well acted movie spoiled by poor pacing halfway through
7 May 2009 | by (England) – See all my reviews

I had no knowledge of the existence of this movie until the day I saw it, so when I started it I was pretty blown away by it. The gritty drama and really well told story of these 2 boys/men is fascinating, very well acted and initially very interesting. The score is beautiful, as is the initial pacing and storytelling. I was thinking this is one of the best movies I've seen for months, and then something odd happened.. the pacing shifted, suddenly long beautifully acted scenes were becoming clips of a few minutes here a sentence there, the character development that was so successful early on suddenly seemed to be redundant as stories become pointless and predictable. It's almost as though the movie changed to a different director and editor half-way through.

I found myself caring less and less about the characters as they became victims of over-editing. The only 2 scenes that lasted more than a couple of minutes in the last third that had any 'substance' were overly dramatic if not soppy father-son scenes where all other members of the family become low priority.

It's really quite a shame, I was enjoying the film so much during the first half, I was willing to give this film a 9 if only a little more of the plot would begin to unravel itself, but instead I got less plot, less character focus and more "this is bad" and "this is good" moments... It's a true pity as I shan't be recommending this movie due to it's second half.


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So who shot Brian??? famourt
So Brian (Mark) got 3 bullets roxist
Anyone have any idea... shamrock1847
winter in every scene THIS DID NOT MAKE SENSE jaybob
Just glad they changed the title rafdes15
Good for bottom feeders... huitzilipochtli
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