Extraordinary Measures: movie review
If 鈥�The Blind Side鈥� is any indication, inspirational movies 鈥渋nspired by real events鈥� are potential bonanzas in these parlous times. I鈥檓 sure the people behind 鈥�Extraordinary Measures,鈥� which includes its star and coproducer Harrison Ford, are hoping lightning will strike twice. But just being 鈥渞eal鈥� and 鈥渋nspirational鈥� is no guarantee of a good movie. I wasn鈥檛 nuts about 鈥淭he Blind Side鈥� 鈥� it skimmed over just about every area of potential controversy 鈥� and 鈥淓xtraordinary Measures鈥� doesn鈥檛 cut it for me either.
It鈥檚 based on a book called 鈥淭he Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million and Bucked the Medical Establishment in a Quest to Save His Children,鈥� and that says it all. Sort of. In fact, the movie is a kind of odd-couple love fest. John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is the rising corporate-star father who seeks out curmudgeonly Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford), who is doing cutting-edge research into the degenerative Pompe disease, which is killing two of Crowley鈥檚 kids. Director Tom Vaughan dotes shamelessly on little Megan (Meredith Droeger) in particular. Crowley鈥檚 wife, Aileen (Keri Russell), is mostly a pretty foil for her husband, who will stop at nothing to find a cure, or at least slow down the disease. Big Pharma gets a surprisingly free pass in this film, which will come as a surprise to all those sufferers struggling to get orphan drugs developed.
Brendan Fraser is enjoyable but Ford, still in his late Indiana Jones phase, grimaces and growls a lot. There鈥檚 something off-putting about this film鈥檚 optimism: After all, how many people can afford to do what Crowley did? Grade: C+ (Rated PG for thematic material, language, and a mild suggestive moment.)
