Review of Extraordinary Measures (2010) by Andrew G — 03 Aug 2010

?I'm going to go take a crap - if that meets with you fiscal approval...? Dr. Robert Stonehill ? Harrison Ford.

Based on a true story about Children and Disease; it?s kind of obvious that it?s trying to touch the world emotionally. For some reason, there seems to be a lot of hate towards this film. It?s been generally believed that it is pretty much a film that could have easily been made for TV, but was given a bigger budget and marketed based on the names of the 2 leading actors. Another factor for the dislike is that it is considered a standard tearjerker that goes for the easy way to make you cry. Watching the film, I realised that it wasn?t a good film, but it certainly wasn?t terrible. It just falls victim to some major flaws, but that doesn?t mean it?s a terrible film like people are calling it.

A couple in Portland have 2 children with Pompe disease; a genetic anomaly that normally kills a child before their tenth birthday. John, the husband, contacts a researcher named Robert Stonehill, a researcher who has a theory on an enzyme treatment. He has little money to fund the research, and a personality that repels away colleagues and funders. John and his wife raise money to fund Stonehill, but John then takes on the task full-time. As time goes on, Stonehill?s attitude gets in the way. The film is based on a real-story, so you can?t really blame a lot of the events portrayed in the film for being ridiculous. Predictably, it?s gonna have some creative licences to make it more acceptable by larger audiences. I feel, like many, that the film should have been made for TV. There?s no reason to watch this any other way, because it doesn?t offer anything in the way of story to make you. The drama and the emotions carried by the film don?t seem any more complex than most of the films on TV nowadays. In fact, I can see it working really well as a made for TV film. When you consider that this film had a $31 million budget, you wonder why it needed it. All that needed to be focused on was the dramatic elements. Instead we get lots of unnecessary sentimental scenes showing how much the parents love their children. I understand them doing it at the beginning to establish the values of the people, but I got sick of seeing these ?cutesy? scenes after a while. I feel though that the film started out strong, because the first time we see how painful it is for the parents to witness their children in so much pain and suffering is really touching. However, they overdid it a bit in the middle. They would show anything they could that could possibly get you to cry. Admittedly, the only films I?ve ever cried at are The Elephant Man and Million Dollar Baby. With the Elephant Man, it was the realisation that people can be so evil just because of someone being different. As for Million Dollar Baby, I got so attached to the characters that seeing the events were unbelievably saddening because of how much Sympathy I had. Extraordinary Measures didn?t really show people being evil; in fact it tried to carry a message of hope that there are some selfless people in the world. As for the people in the film, I didn?t feel that I knew enough about them to attach myself to them.

The actors Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford are brought in to play the lead roles. Fraser is an actor I feel is talented, but never really displays his talent. Occasionally, he?ll act in a film like the Quiet American and show just how brilliant an actor he is capable of being. But then, he?ll do a terrible comedy and ruin his image. He doesn?t do an especially good job here, but it?s on the better end of his performance scale. Harrison Ford is considered one of the best actors in the industry. He?s iconic, and always delivers on what he needs. I personally think he does a good job here, but he seemed so close to quoting Dr. McCoy in Star Trek. When he gets to ranting, the dialogue and the tone had me expecting him to say something like ?Dammit, I?m a Doctor not a family man?. Ford is good, but there?s no reason to have him playing the role. It feels as if they got Ford into the film just so they could put it on the poster. Without Ford and Fraser, the film wouldn?t have had the potential of being released in the cinemas.

Besides the plot and the acting, there?s very little to talk about with Extraordinary Measures. If you?re the sort of person that is very emotional with films, then this is really going to get to you. As a film, it?s mediocre at best, but overshadowed by all the films that have come out before and done this sort of story much better.

Andrew?s rating: 4 out of 10.