Review of Extraordinary Measures (2010) by Carlos Z — 02 Jun 2010

A great "feel-bad and then feel-good" film. A loving father of 2 children with Pompe Disease (which causes the children to be wheelchair bound, on a ventilator, and is supposed to take them by age 9), hotly pursues every option to make one researcher's theories become a reality. Ford plays the grumpy old man annoyingly well, and Brendan plays the emotionally driven dad with subtle honesty. Keri is every child's dream mom. The story is not so much about the kids and the family, but about Brendan's incredible pursuit to "be all things to all people" in the business world at just the right time. It is a lesson to us all in perseverance.

I believe the critics were less enamored with it because its production value felt a little bit more like a made-for-tv special than a blockbuster movie. But despite this, the acting and writing was competent and the story is in itself amazing.Not overly schmaltzy. For a better produced movie with a similar theme, see "Lorenzo's Oil". Ex. Measures was more optimistic and focused on the inside working of getting a drug produced. It seemed totally unbelievable how this all worked out. It's a family film as well. Rent it!