Misure straordinarie

One of the most underrated films of the year. Clearly this movie was too intellectual for the general public. Well acted, well directed and with a very powerful message. The movie shows to what lenghts good parents will go for their children. It also reveals the difficulty in placing a new well needed drug with the FDA. The message this movie reveals is the priority of costs by drug companies over the health concerns of individuals and families affected by rare diseases. Both Bryandon Frasier and Harrison Ford deliver powerful performances in this film. Its refreshing to watch a film and not have to sit thought the typical car chase or shoot-out.

Based on Geeta Anand's book, Tom Vaughan's 'Extraordinary Measures' starts off like the typical Hollywood film. With the formulaic score and introduction of the protagonist as a successful executive with a happy family..until one sees that the two youngest children of the protagonists are suffering from Pompe's disease, an illness that atrophies the muscle and nerve cells and leads to death. The doctors aren't optimistic about the prognosis of the disease for which there's no found cure. However, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) isn't giving up and he pursues researcher Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) who may have the answer to the solution.

The film does tend to be sentimental at times and it does occasionally resemble the 'TV film of the week' but what drives it are the performances. Fraser's performance has been criticized for being too emotional while Russell was criticized for the opposite. But I don't see why characters have to be gender-stereotyped to be realistic. Why is it impossible for the mother to be more controlled and the father to be more vocal and demonstrative about feelings? That said, I did feel that Keri Russell's role was underdeveloped even though the actress does a brilliant job with what she's given. I also would have liked to see more of Harrison Ford who was simply terrific as the stubborn and fiercely independent Stonehill. Brendan Fraser is great as the father and husband who won't give up at any cost. Of the supporting cast, Courtney B. Vance stands out.

Flawed it may be...the pacing is uneven and at times the film loses track. The execution is fairly ordinary but not intrusive. The picture does provide some insight on an illness that isn't so commonly known but at times it confuses the viewer with half-baked explanations. However, the performances lift 'Extraordinary Measures' from being an average flick.

¨Scientists get all sensible & careful when they get old. Young ones like risk, not afraid of new ideas.¨ Director Tom Vaughan takes a much more serious approach in Extraordinary Measures then he did with the 2008 comedy What Happens in Vegas starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz. This movie which also stars two A-list actors, Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, is a drama focusing on a father's effort to raise millions of dollars to help fund the research of a scientist who is trying to find a cure for Pompe disease, a rare genetic disorder that two of his children have. The film is based on the book written by Geeta Anand, ¨The Cure¨, which is based on the true story of the Crowley family. The screenplay was adapted by Oscar nominated writer Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat). I think that Jacobs did a pretty decent job at enlightening us about the disease and covered the scientific research well enough so that we could understand what was going on without getting bored. Vaughan could have made this a tear-jerker and played with the viewers emotions, but he did a great job with trying to stay true to the material and not turning this into a melodrama like My Sister's Keeper was. The film works well with strong performances from the entire cast, but I still can't see why anyone would want to see this movie in the theaters because it felt more like a made for television movie, although I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. By the end of the movie I felt enlightened and respected the work of these scientists, but I am also glad I waited to watch this movie at home and didn't go see it at the movies.

John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is a successful advertising businessman who lives with his wife Aileen (Keri Russell) and three children Megan (Meredith Droeger), Patrick (Diego Velasquez), and John Jr. (Sam M. Hall) in Portland. Megan and Patrick suffer from a genetic disorder known as the Pompe disease. The kids who suffer from this disease never make it past nine, and after Megan turns eight and almost losses her life to the disease, John decides it is time to take drastic and extraordinary measures. He has spent many years researching about the disease and discovers some interesting theories on enzyme treatment from a scientist located in Nebraska named Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). After trying to contact him and not receiving any response from the Doctor, John decides to travel to Nebraska and convince him to pursue his research. Stonehill is not really person oriented; he has poor communication skills, and has had difficulty coming up with the funds to further his research. John tells Stonehill that he will help raise the money and after hosting several fund raisers and meeting other parents who have children with the same disease such as Marcus Temple (Courtney B. Vance) they raise about 90 thousand dollars which is a lot less than what they needed, but more than Stonehill expected him to raise. John decides to quit his job and work full time with Stonehill helping him raising the funds they need from capitalist groups. Their relationship isn't the best one and they have their disagreements, but John will do whatever it takes to find a cure for his children before running out of time.

The hardest decision for John was to quit his job and work full time for Stonehill away from home. The ethical dilemma was either to give up and enjoy as much time he could with his children or try to find a cure which meant he would have to spend a lot of time away from home and the results weren't guaranteed. John took the risk and decided he had to do what was in his power to try to find a cure for his children. The movie also deals with scientific objectivity and how sometimes emotions and feelings are not necessarily a bad mixture. The movie focuses on these issues and doesn't rely only on the family melodrama of dealing with the disease, it tries to remain objective but at the same time inform us of the reality of this genetic disorder in children. The movie isn't a highly entertaining film, but it does work as a serious drama and one you would enjoy seeing in the comfort of your home. Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser are decent in their roles although nothing we haven't seen from them in the past. Courtney B. Vance and Jared Harris have a couple of strong scenes in the supporting role. The kids are OK as well although they don't play a major role in this movie as one would expect. The movie is far from being extraordinary, but it still is a decent film which I would recommend only for home viewing.

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Harrison Ford still displays great instincts both as an actor and as an executive producer. I believed in his character whole-heartedly, and convincingly-so as the movie unfolded the story. Brendan Fraser is also very convincing as a decent, but desperate and resourceful father. This is a movie that made me want to read the book, research the real issues.

I especially like the way the audience is increasingly drawn in, not only to the family seeking Dr. Stonehill's cutting edge medical research, but, moreover, in to the very lives of other families enduring a plight similar to the family of the main protagonists.

The movie is strong in terms of not over-playing the sentiment, which it would have been so easy to do.

Just watched this true life drama starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser at the theatre with my friend who works there. Not the kind we normally go to see but since this film had only one afternoon showing time for the days of this week, we felt it was worth a look. The leads were pretty good for the characters they played and provided enough drama to make their admiration for each other clear despite some disagreements. The two handicapped kids of Fraser's character provided both humor and some genuine touching moments that didn't go overboard. Also fine was Keri Russell as Brandan's wife and Courtney B. Vance as another parent with similarly diseased kids who tells his family's story to a captive audience. My favorite scenes are those involving Ford's doctor character constantly playing classic rock songs in his lab to the consternation of everyone else there. Extraordinary Measures is perhaps not a great drama, but it provides enough moments that make this worthy entertainment.