Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

As a paraplegic of nearly 20 years, I knew this movie would be difficult at points, and it was...in all the very best ways. Though my paralysis is nowhere near as severe as Chris's, I could intimately relate to a lot of Chris's emotions as my past feelings and memories were brought to the surface. Trying to retain our sense of self - as well as our roles as a spouse, parent, sibling, and friend - and also continuing to be an active member of society is a difficult tightrope to navigate when our physical sense of being is irrevocably altered and we have to learn to accept this new normal. I could relate to much of Dana's perspective as a spouse as well; though I was not the caregiver in my marriage I experienced firsthand how it changes the marital dynamic. Many people living with disabilities don't have that kind of strength and devotion in their marriage like Chris and Dana did.

This film provides valuable insight into the life of individuals living with paralysis. If he as the most prominent figurehead of our community had these struggles, you can imagine how life can be for the average person rolling a similar path. Finally, having become paralyzed after Christopher Reeve, this film was a great reminder of all the ways my life would be different without his advocacy.

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Christopher Reeve was well-known for his performance as Superman and his unfortunate accident in 1995 disrupted his acting career. While I haven't seen many of Reeve's work, I found Reeve's to be a interesting person and this documentary does a good job on exploring his journey before and after his accident with good atmosphere, conversations from other celebrities and exploration about his activist works.

The documentary presents good presentation, structure and some informative insights about Reeve's personal life that I didn't know about it and it was pretty emotional to observe. Seeing his family and others discussing of what makes him so special was pretty touching and I felt connected to Reeve's activist work, his journey and the person he is.

Without being said, the documentary does have it's faults which are some of the pacing that could be improved. Including the musical tracks feeling repetitive. The musical tracks feel out of place and just like Val and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, the musical soundtrack feels cheesy and kind of ruins some of the moments.

But as a whole, the movie's core was good and it was interesting to observe and learn about Reeves. May Reeves legacy continues and his legendary performance as Superman to live on.

I saw this documentary at the first showing in theaters and the audience was deeply moved. So many personal stories of the life and times of friends, family and colleagues of a man we hardly knew. The true life story of courage and the love he left behind. I had no idea that his childhood shaped his perception of what family could be and that struck home for me. Great to see Robin Williams help his classmate, friend and being like a brother, stepped up when it counted most while dealing with personal challenges of his own.

The support of Christopher's wife, Dana, goes above and beyond normal caregiving and deserves her own life story told as well. The personal stories their children tell about what she went through in the years that followed.

His advocacy for change in spinal cord injury research has beared fruit all these years later.

It was great to see the original Superman film clips on the big screen since seeing them when they first ran in the 70's/80's.

Great CGI effects of a Superman statue among the stars and heavens with compelling narration. Bravo!

SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (2024) **** Heartfelt and accommodating documentary on the life and legacy of Christopher Reeve, actor/familyman/advocate for the disabled focusing largely upon the nearly-fatal accident in which he became a quadriplegic, which not only strengthened his humanity but in fact defined it. Interspersed with family home videos and testimonials from both friends and colleagues as well as those who have benefited from his & his wife Dana's philanthropic efforts, the film balances the man as well as the myth (naturally playing Superman onscreen clearly iconicized him immortal and underlined the cruel fate of his destiny) filmmakers Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui prove that - to turn a phrase on his most famous film's tagline - You Will Believe A Man Can Try. One of the year's best films.

An inspirational portrait of an extraordinary man who became a symbol of hope and resilience for so many, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story will serve as a stirring introduction to some but for others, it's a moving reminder of what Christopher Reeve accomplished, endured and overcame. An emotional rollercoaster with some undeniably tear-jerking moments that absolutely got to me, seeing Reeve inspiring crowds with his resilience and firm passion towards helping his fellow man nets us to see a very different kind of Superman. It presents a person who perfected his craft, spoke to the world as if they were his equals and turned tragedy into something positive. Reeve was right when he said we need all the heroes we can get, Super/Man powerfully reminds us that all we need to do is look in the mirror to find one.