Talking Pictures

Rich’s Quickie: If you liked The Blind Side, they’re counting on you to like this.

Extra: It’s tough to dislike a film based on the true story about a father going to great lengths to find a cure for the genetic disorder affecting two of his children. The kids are dang cute, the unknown supporting cast will jerk a tear or two out of you, Keri Russell is great (but underused), and there’s a somewhat happy ending. So what’s the problem?

Ordinary: Basically, the direction and the casting/acting are problems. This has the feel of a made-for-tv movie, right down to the cloddy direction. For example, just in case you missed that his young daughter is 8 and kids with Pompeii Syndrome don’t live past 9, where going to slam home her age with a birthday party, and then with a whole bunch of reminders that SHE’S EIGHT. And when you need to know that Brendan Fraser’s John Crowley has been trying to get a hold of cranky Dr. Robert Stonehill (played by Harrison Ford), we’re just going to WRITE IT DOWN ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND SHOW IT TO YOU. Did you get that? Don’t worry; we’ll show it again. We’ll even blow the ending with the bit about Ford getting a new truck with our clumsy directional choices.
But that’s not all. Fraser is simply miscast. He’s the fun, action-hero guy, not this serious dramatic guy, and it shows when he has to emote. Then again, seasoned actor Ford is not much better. When he needs to be agitated, he simply RAISES HIS VOICE in a manner we’ve seen him do before with other characters. He’s supposed to be this self-centered, craggy genius; instead, he comes across as Harrison Ford yelling now and again.
But again, it’s an uplifting true story with a happy ending. It just shouldn’t been better casted, directed, and shown on Lifetime.

Movie Grade: C-

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment.

Director: Tom Vaughan

Writers: Robert Nelson Jacobs (written by), Geeta Anand (book)

Extraordinary Measures is based on the true story of John Crowley who took on the challenge of finding a cure for the genetic disorder plaguing his children.

The film stars Brendan Fraser as John Crowley, who risked career suicide and bankruptcy to save his children and others suffering from a disease, called “Pompeii Syndrome.”

Brendan Fraser gives an earnest performance in his role as a father driven to succeed by the ticking clock of his children’s illness. Fraser is both charming and passionate as he multitasks between the science of cure (which is a slow and frustrating process) and corporate politics (which is at times an even slower process).

Harrison Ford plays the crusty Dr Robert Stonehill, who is the leading research scientist working on Pompeii Syndrome.

Ford plays Stonehill as cartoonish and stereotypical. We know he’s a brilliant non-conformist scientist because he drives a truck and eats hamburgers at a local biker dive. In the lab he’s grouchy, self-centered and rude to his fellow researchers. Yet when introduced to the children he’s trying to cure, he becomes a wise grandfather type.

As the story progresses, the two begin to work together with Fraser handling the corporate end and Ford attending to the science. Both men never miss an opportunity to preach on the value of corporate partnerships or how science needs time. There are a lot of speeches in this film.

Extraordinary Measures is a sweet film about pleasant people. But the movie never lives up to its title as neither of the principals take any kind of extraordinary measure to cure this disease.

Neither Crowley or Stonehill ever really leave their comfort zones. Crowley was a vice president of a pharmaceutical company to begin with, and Stonehill just transferred his research from one lab to another.

What we end up with is a day to day look at the pharmaceutical industry and how some drugs are brought to clinical study and trial.

Finally, the problem with Extraordinary Measures really isn’t the film’s overall sweetness, preaching or acting. The problem is the film feels like a made for TV movie with each scene constructed for the small screen.

Extraordinary Measures ends up as a nice film and rates a C+. It carries a PG rating.

Actor / Producer Brendan Fraser discusses his new film “Extraordinary Measures” with Talking Pictures’ Tony Toscano. In the new film he co-stars alongside Harrison Ford