A very reluctant hero: Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an acting masterclass as a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombings

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Verdict: Moving and profound 

Stronger is the second film this year to dramatise the after-effects of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

The first was Patriots Day, an exercise in chest-thumping that focused on the capture of the two bombers and enabled native Bostonian Mark Wahlberg (whose early life in the city was anything but heroic) to look dauntless as a fictitious cop.

Stronger, following the physical and emotional impact of the explosion on one man, and by extension on those around him, is a much more interesting and honest film. It is based on a memoir by Jeff Bauman (the superb Jake Gyllenhaal), who was in the finishing-line crowd to cheer his on-off girlfriend Erin Hurley (Tatiana Maslany, also terrific) when the bombs went off.

30dac6424a0b5f4e688da0be37319f9b A very reluctant hero: Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an acting masterclass as a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombings

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