Stronger is directed by David Gordon Green, whose directorial works include critically-acclaimed films George Washington (2000), Prince Avalanche (2013), and most recently Our Brand Is Crisis (2015). The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Jeff Bauman, a victim of the bombing in which he lost both of his legs; and Tatiana Maslany as Erin Hurley, Jeff’s girlfriend.

The story centers in Jeff’s recovery as he deals with the struggles of adjusting to his new life and his journey to becoming a hero overnight after helping the FBI find the suspects of the said bombing. Jeff is stationed near the finish line with a cardboard sign waiting for her girlfriend Erin to complete the marathon when a bomb goes off that eventually kills a couple of people and injured many more including Jeff.

What he doesn’t quite understand is how he is being honored for the worst day of his life. Losing both your legs is one of the worst things a man has to go through, there’s the physical pain that eventually affects your emotion and the way you think about the future. It’s a gloomy thought not being able to stand up. And the film superbly captures this straining battle of getting back up to your feet as Jeff ultimately experiences the disability of doing normal things without the help of others.

Jake Gyllenhaal is phenomenal in his performance as the struggling hero trying to cope up with everything that has happened. He shines well enough in his positive days as if nothing is going wrong in the world which is evident in the first scenes of the movie. In fact, it is his positivism that makes it easy to empathize with him. A man can only go through so much trauma in life - and then he begins to change, but you understand it because the degree of that trauma is large enough to warrant such change. Gyllenhaal also delivers in scenes that require big emotions, sometimes so strong that it becomes hard not to pity him and cry for his misery - and that’s a mark of powerful acting.

However great Jake Gyllenhaal is, Tatiana Maslany’s portrayal of Jeff’s girlfriend often overpower Jake’s. Her precise delivery of someone giving up everything just to take care of her newly-disabled boyfriend will take you by force. Every time she’s on screen she’s commanding. Sometimes the film is about her and becomes her’s. The movie take turns in showing both their perspectives which is a nice additional touch to show us both sides, how one is being physically pained while the other hurts on the inside.