71
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterWith Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke registering personal bests in the performance category as well as playing magnificently and ultraconvincingly off each other, What Doesn't Kill You, a true story that is powerful and completely riveting from beginning to end.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumA tough, authentic street drama born, bred, and shot in the no-spin zone of working-class South Boston.
- 83Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerThe overfamiliarity of What Doesn't Kill You is redeemed by a full-scale performance from Mark Ruffalo.
- 80The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisIt tells a good story well, and in the process quietly says a little something about what it means to look at the American dream from the bottom up.
- 75USA TodayClaudia PuigUSA TodayClaudia PuigLike "The Departed" and "Gone Baby Gone," What Doesn't Kill You is an engrossing, gritty, sharply written and well-acted drama set on the mean streets of South Boston.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayGoodman doesn't allow even a hint of postmodernism or self-consciousness to creep into What Doesn't Kill You, and though the movie's various heists and shootouts are gripping, they aren't especially kinetic or stylish.
- Ruffalo's feral vulnerability gives the familiar form a jolt.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatIt is worth seeking out for a brutally honest, achingly realistic, and emotionally compelling look at the other side of petty crime – the slow, painful path to legitimacy.
- 63New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickThis is a rare case of a movie that improves dramatically as it goes along.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceGoodman's movie tends to limp along.