Super/Man: L'histoire de Christopher Reeve

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.

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 cried a lot watching this Love letter of a movie. A love story between Christopher and Dana. And the love of children for their parents. And the love of the public for a famous person. When he died in 2004, I remember being in a hotel room in Galveston Texas.

It is the first time I truly cried over the death of someone I had never met. I was diagnosed with Cervical Dystonia in September of 1995, the same year as the accident that put Chris in a wheelchair. I am a scientist so I say, "our mission should not be complete until the wheelchair is obsolete." I could not believe he appeared at the Oscars so shortly after such a terrible accident. I broke down and cried. Yes, it is possible to love someone you have never met. He taught us all that we are "here for a reason!!"

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.

A real life superhero. Even through his tragedy he still did not give up .He had hope and love and inspired others .It was lovely to see his family supporting him .Even sadder how hard it would be to be paralyzed and not be able to do what one is used to doing but he still kept moving forward. It made me cry such a beautiful man growing up in a broken home as I did just trying to live life. In the end he realized how blessed he was to have the love of his wife ,children and friends and fans .He did a lot for causes that mattered to him. He will never be forgotten. More sadder was how all this affected his children.