In cinema, there is something to be said about the safe bet; one can never go too wrong by doing something that's been done before, especially if a film can somehow exceed its predecessors. Horror films are but one example of the viability of retreads (the recent remakes of My Bloody Valentine and Friday the 13th come to mind). Another safe bet is the crime drama, and Brian Goodman's What Doesn't Kill You is a textbook example of just such a rehash. You can bet your wife's (or wives') wedding ring(s)* that WDKY will be viewable, but does that make it good, let alone great?
Set in Boston, WDKY tells the tale of two childhood friends, Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke), as they grow from being impish hoods to second-rate thugs working for a local crime lord. Brian, as evidenced early in the film, has a steady romance with the mildly-trashy Stacy (Amanda Peet**), while Paulie is a lifelong bachelor that chases bartenders incessantly. As they grow older, these tendencies become more pronounced; Brian is married with two kids (as well as suffering from a crippling addiction to various illegal substances), Paulie continues to 'date' women who appear to be the same age as others did earlier on in the film, and they still engage in two-bit heists and shakedowns. Eventually, the pair are arrested and sent to prison for five years apiece.
The film takes a dramatic, albeit expected, turn here, due to Brian's emerging determination to get clean and be with his family. Paulie, on the other hand, keeps a low profile, all the while craving one big score upon his release. From the end of Brian's incarceration (Paulie's release is delayed, resulting from a paper-thin plot device), the second half of the film deals with Brian's struggle to become a proper father to his children, find a stable job, remain sober, etc. Unfortunately for him, Paulie comes around a few months later, seeking a comrade to help enact his desperate scheme...
My apologies for the protracted synopsis, but does the plot sound familiar in any way, shape, or form? It should, and I dare say it's entirely superfluous to list WDKY's similarities to countless other crime dramas. In this case, it's between friends, but it could just as easily have been brothers, father and son, and whatnot; one of whom struggles to live the straight life, while the other pulls them back into the fold.
The fault lies not in Goodman's direction (which is tight) nor in the performances (which are solid), but in the script, and even then, the dialogue isn't too shabby. The pacing of the story (co-written by New Kids on the Block alum Donnie Wahlberg, who also appears in the film as a grumpy, pessimistic detective***) takes too many opportunities for granted, especially in its goal of making us sympathetic toward Brian. There were moments in which I got the feeling that the script expected me to care about the unfolding events based upon previous experiences with much better films in the genre; but I'd rather just watch a different movie, preferably one with Joe Pesci.
Altogether, there are worse ways than What Doesn't Kill You to waste a hundred minutes of your life, but that doesn't alter the fact that you'll walk away thinking about some other movie which was superior in every regard. If nothing else, it was refreshing to watch a movie taking place in Boston that didn't involve Matt Damon or Ben Affleck. (Every cloud has a silver lining, and all that.)
2 out of 4 *_*
* You know what I'm talking about, you sly bastard.
** Just yesterday, I caught Identity on TV and thought to myself 'What has Amanda Peet been doing lately?' and like magic, she appears in WDKY.
*** A pessimistic detective? That never happens in movies.
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