Extraordinary Measures – Review

Inspirational stories are plentiful on the big screen, always tugging away at our heartstrings and trying to push us to strive for the greater good of a random cause. Extraordinary Measures jumps within that realm over John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) and Aileen’s(Keri Russell) two ailing children who hinge on the brink of death over their Pompe disease. With the aid of Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), they’re on a race against the clock in order to not only save their lives but many more who suffer from this illness.

This truly want-to-be inspirational piece is nothing more than that, something that could easily have gotten a limited and better shelf live within the realms of the Lifetime channel. The story line, though based on actual events, completely starts to derail from the actual cause of curing the Pompe disease. Instead we get shout matches between Fraser and Ford as it turns into a pure power struggle and the actual noble cause in the film is left in the dust. This recalls back to a scene in the middle of the film where the daughter tries to catch her father’s (Fraser) attention so he can play with her, but he claims he’s too busy. She complains about how he barely spends any time with her even when he is home. The same can be said about the main story line.

Fraser can barely keep himself together throughout a majority of the feature, bumbling his way past the scenes until he reaches a point where it’s appropriate to cry once more. Russell serves practically no purpose other than being a stand in of a mother, completely wasting her talent. Ford yells his way through every scene, veins throbbing and all, making you wonder if such a person like that can even exist or not already have suffered from a heart attack. The direction is piss-poor, bringing us through one so many close ups that you pray to God that the camera finally pulls away so you don’t have to see the details in Fraser’s bulging eyeballs. Nothing even comes close to being satisfactory cinematically, each shot as bland as the other showing each frame as they flip-flop in the most unappealing way possible.

Extraordinary Measures is anything but extraordinary, and brings itself to be a passable film watching experience that could be better spent by re-watching Avatar. At least then you’ll get your money’s worth visually.

Rating: