Extraordinary Measures

Posted In: The Spy Next Door

Orlando Awtrey says...

Been a fan of Harrison's for 30 years now.He got an executive producer credit.A first for him.



Was looking forward to seeing the film.Too bad it did not do better at the box office.



Interesting story, they did promote the movie enough when released January 2010.



Harrison's character is not real likable, his way or the highway.He did do a great job at it, something you would not normally see him do.



Credit for the film were ALL WRONG.Harrison got 2cd billing behind Brendan.Wrong.1988's "Working Girl" he did a great job & did not get all the screen time but he was top billed so who's ever decisionit was for this film was wrong.



First time I have ever seen a part with Keri Russell.She did a good job.



Story does drag a bit seeing them go through this process of testing, developing tests, etc.Money above helping people.



Good normal extras on the DVD.



OK, I do NOT know what is going on with makers of DVD's.I complain about this EVERY TIME I GET A DVD NOW.

CHEAP, HORRIBLE & NOT SAFE.This DVD has 1 of this new plastic cases with the holes in them.Both front & back have INTENTIONAL HOLES AROUND THE DVD & FROM THE FRONT RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE DVD.This can damage the DVD if something heavy hits it, while shipping, etc.

THESE ARE HORRIBLE & WHOEVER DESIGNED THEM IS A TOTAL IDIOT.

CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP.DVD designers who do NOT care about their customers or their products.

Plain jane silver DVD, no chapter search list.

Posted on November 28, 2011

Asia Roup says...

Viewers who enjoy tear-jerker movies will certainly enjoy this film. My problem, which is admittedly irrational, is that I am a fan of Harrison Ford. I enjoy his action films and the way he plays his role with a sense of humor. In this film, he plays a grouch, mean, self-centered, and without humor. This is not the way I like to see the man, and this ruined the film for me. Additionally, I did not think that the conversion of Ford from a grouch to an almost friendly and cooperative person was too sudden, as if someone waived a wand and changed his personality.

Posted on November 28, 2011

Cecila Rollings says...

This movie motivated me to write my first review.



I read on 'Rottentomatoes' that Extraordinary Measures "never feels like more than a made-for-TV tearjerker."Don't believe it! I am convinced that critics who do critiquing for a living often lose their senses of wonder, along with their senses of humor. After hundreds to thousands of movie viewings, they no longer see the story that makes the acting come alive. They only judge the acting (and that, superficially), and my guess is that most go into the theater with preconceived ideas based on trailers and their personal attitudes toward the actors in the film under review.



So with that out of the way, I will concentrate on the movie which I saw last night.



John & Aileen Crowley and their children, John Jr.,Megan and Patrick, are the real stars of this movie. Which tells me that the actors who portrayed them did their job well.



As usual in his serious roles, Brendan Fraser brought to the screen the intensity and humanity and reality of John Crowley's decision/quest/obsession for a medical miracle for his children. Brendan is unique. He has been wise in not being stereotyped. As far as I can see, he has much more to bring to life cinematically. His humor is one of his greatest attributes.



Keri Russell is relatable as Aileen. In this condensed version of this part of Aileen's life, I think Keriallowed us to see into Aileen's emotions and her relationships with her children as well as with John.



The children were played by Meredith Droeger as Megan and Diego Velazquez as Patrick. I was entranced by both children. They were believable and amazing in their mature ability to play children with Pompe challenges, while still showing how the disease does not identify their individuality.I believe both Meredith and Diego have a great future ahead of them regardless of their paths in life.



Sam M. Hall is a delightful young man who, I feel sure, played big brother John Jr. very much as he is - supportive, loving and responsible. His own challenges came through often with Sam's expressions and responses to difficult situations.



And, of course, what can you say about Harrison Ford that has not already been said. I watched his interview with Charlie Rose, and he said then that his character, Dr. Stonehill, was a compilation of several doctors the Crowleys worked with. His characterization of the medical research personality was probably not all that far from truth. But he naturally gives hissignature personality to the contrary doctor. (I have known some egos like his in the medical field.) In short, he was wonderful. And I truly appreciate his dedication to getting this story to film (along with anyone else involved).



See this film if you have a heart for children. See it if you like any of these actors. (And watch for Dee Wallace. Short but oh so sweet!)

Posted on November 29, 2011

Junko Peralta says...

"Extraordinary Measures" is an inspiring movie.It is based upon the true story of the Crowley family and their struggle with Pompe disease.I rate this movie superior because the tale is vital, the action gripping, and the movie is well acted.



"Extraordinary Measures" presents John Crowley (Brendan Fraser), his wifeAileen (Keri Russell)and their children, John Jr. (Sam M. Hall), Megan (Meredith Droeger) and Patrick (Diego Velazquez).Both Megan and Patrick Crowley have Pompe disease and are not expected to live past their eighth or ninth birthday.John and Aileen decide that prognosis is unacceptable and become determined to find a cure.



The Crowleys learn that professor Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford)at the University of Nebraska Is close to finding a treatment for Pompe.They solicit Stonehill's help andform a company dedicated to discovering a cure for this terrible disease.



As I watched the science progress, I began to understand the difficulty of performing biochemical research and the near impossibility of taking a new drug to market.The challenges of financing and the difficulty of getting FDA approval became clear.The dialogue seemed real and the science understandable.The script writers for this film produced a scientifically clear script.



Harrison Ford plays a biochemist who is technically superior, but unable to communicate without creating stress.This is a very different part for Harrison Ford but he presents a believable, old codger academic who struggles with interpersonal communication.



Brendan Fraser is outstanding as a sensitive, persistent John Crowley who gently pushes for solutions.Keri Russell appears a concerned mother desperate to save her children.Meredith Droeger and Diego Velazquez are wonderful as the Pompe plagued children.Unlike many child actors, these two talented youngsters appear natural and convincing in their roles.



This movie tells a good human interest story with excellent characters and a realistic plot.I highly recommend "Extraordinary Measures".

Posted on November 29, 2011

Tuyet Luciani says...

Director Tom Vaughan does an outstandingjob directing this film, bringing in stellar performances by one of my all-time favorite actors Harrison Ford (Dr. Robert Stonehill) and Brendan Fraser (John Crowley). Based on a true story, it's about Crowley's desperate struggle to save two of his children who have Pompe Disease, a rare, life-threatening illness.



Although the movie portrays the usual life-span for children with this condition as eight or nine years, in real life, most children with Pompe disease would die before age two. There is also a juvenile and adult form which can present at almost any age.



One of the first scenes is of Crowley's daughter enjoying her eighth birthday party. The little girl has an optimistic, radiant personality and Meredith Droeger plays the part to perfection. This is a bittersweet scene because viewers know the spirited little girl might not have long to live. Her brother (played by Diego Velazquez) is six, so he has a few more years. The relationship between the parents and their children--including the one not afflicted with this awful disease--will make you cry one minute, laugh the next.



The father is relentless in his search for information that might help his children, so when he learns of Dr. Stonehill's theory about a cure for this disease he tries to reach the eccentric, elusive, cranky scientist. After several failed attempts, he finally tracks him down and talks him into helping. Stonehill needs funding for research to prove his theory, but is positive it will work, so he offers to help if Crowley can raise the funds.



Crowley's wife Aileen, played by actress Keri Russell, is concerned about living expenses when he risks it all by quitting his well-paid position as a biotechnology executive to pursue funding. Nonetheless, she pitches in and supports him all the way. They will do anything to save their children's lives.



There are many interesting twists and turns in this movie as Crowley and Dr. Stonehill race against time. They bump heads with other, more money-oriented scientists who block their progress in unexpected ways. Dr. Stonehill is set in his ways, so doesn't add to the harmony between Crowley and the "establishment." During these scenes we gain knowledge of how medical research is conducted and financed. Quite fascinating...



This superb movie is adapted by Robert Nelson Jacobs from a nonfiction book "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children by the Pulitzer Prize journalist Geeta Anand.



There is plenty of action offset by surprising touches of humor in this movie, which is one I would not have missed for the world. Just to see the magnetic performances by Ford and Fraser is well worth the price of admission. They work surprisingly well together and I'm delighted to see Fraser in a dramatic role like this; he is the heart of this movie.



This is a suspenseful family drama that I recommend highly--a movie that proves that miracles still happen...



Reviewed by Betty Dravis, September 17, 2010

Author of "Dream Reachers" (with Chase Von) and other books

Posted on December 2, 2011

Rubye Facundo says...

Since watching "Awakening" and the story of introducing Dopa in the treatment of Parkinsonism, in the late 1980's, "Extraordinary Measures" presents the huge progress made in the biochemistry of the 21st century. In Awakening, Dopa was a simple drug that when ingested reaches the brain and stimulates the dopamine receptors, which reduce muscle rigidity in Parkinsonism. Extraordinary Measures covers the gigantic leaps made in genetics. Pompe disease, one of many genetic enzymatic disorders, involves the missing of an enzyme in the pathway of breaking down stored carbohydrates. The accumulated carbohydrates cause multiple organ failure by the age of 9 years.



In contrast to the mechanism of action of Dopa in Parkinsonism, the treatment of Pompe's disease requires finding a tagged molecule that could be identified by the diseased organ and that could trigger signals to the DNA of the diseased cells, activating the production of the missing enzyme. In the movie, the experimental drug appeared to act as a direct enzyme that acts immediately as it reaches its target cell. Had it been a DNA activator, it would requires a day or so to show action.The movie presents the dilemma of administering direct enzymes rather than DNA stimulators. A wrong enzyme could turn lethal by targeting the wrong sugar.



Reviving a complex scientific endeavor on the big screen of every mall and movie theatre transforms cinema into a folklore university.The movie conforms to the highest possible standards of telling a true story of human triumph over genetic disorder.Aside from the pathetic, eccentric personality of Harrison Ford's Dr. Stonehill, every other actor sounded as real as it gets.



The movie covered the effort of designing, manufacturing, testing, and licensing a potential drug in great details. Even though tagging an enzyme with a protein marker, that enhances its concentration in some tissues more than others, sounds like a simple idea, the movie discussed the technical difficulties of making the intervening enzymes controlling the absorption and metabolization of the drug as it reaches its target cells in the heart and breaks down the excessively accumulated sugar.Even if the science could alter the biochemical defect that underlies Pompe's disease, the movie went further to deal with process of clinical trial and the regulations that safeguard against endangering the lives of those who must consume the drug.



The humanitarian side of fighting a devastating genetic disorder was also covered neatly in the movie. The real victims of the disease must energize the endeavor of finding cure. The scientific institutions must seek revenues through whatever popular, such as sports. Scientific advances are low priorities for those institutions that struggle to get generate revenues. As such scientists fall in the bottom of payroll scale as their investigation requires many decades of hard work in order to return profit. The community also played a great role in advancing the research once the word got out educating people with the need to find cure.



The inconvenience of playing rough and eccentric by Harrison Ford acting as schizoid scientist was the only glitch in the movie as it made the acting unreal. In this movie, Ford appeared more congested and eccentric than his role in the Fugitive. The rest of the actors were new faces to me, which made their acting feel more real than Ford's acting.

Posted on December 2, 2011

May Hovland says...

2.7 stars



Unfortunately unextraordinary.



I just watched this one and must say I am amazed to see that all 7 reviews here are five stars. As much as this true story was moving, I found the movie's treatment of it predictable in every way: overwrought, manipulative, ham-handed and thoroughly ordinary...at best.



Nothing here worked for me except the one scene with all the Pompe families gathered with the scientists. When the black father spoke, I could finally really feel something coming from the screen. He had real passion, and I can only guess that all those real Pompe kids in one place inspired the entire production. It's a moving moment.



But almost all of the rest of this very tv-feeling movie is so sadly unextraordinary. Ford and Fraser do their best but somehow these two fine actors seem off here. Is it the script, hokey as it often is? After watching the short but fine dvd extra documentary on the real life John Crowley and his family, I saw how sanitized and prettified the screen story truly was. Must everything be so Hollywood? The real story had more life for me in four minutes than the long 100 minutes of the film.



A great director inspires the cast and crew and the story comes to full life on the screen. There is electricity. Here there is everything that suggests electricity, but almost none of the real crackle. It all feels flat, and the incredibly average, sappy and manipulative music seems lifted from any of a hundred expensive soap operas. The acting rarely takes off into depth and intensity. And some of the looping (off-camera dubbing by the actors) is simply miserable. In the bar scene you can actually hear Ford's voice go up and down and up again as the edit is done; there's no excuse for that kind of shoddy editing in a big-budget movie. One can only blame the director for all of these final decisions.



Which is all really a shame, as the story is wonderful, with real-life happy ending and all. But something just feels off in this movie, and it's hard to put my finger on it. I thought I'd gone nuts when I saw all the praise here, so I checked the combined ratings of this movie from 129 critics around the world on Rotten Tomatoes; it got a 28% thumbs up, which to me seemed sadly about right. But then again, they each watch about a thousand movies a year, so what would they know about good filmmaking?



For all its good intentions and heart-wrenching true story, Extraordinary Measures is all too standard and never comes close to the power it could have had. The short dvd documentary on the real family has far more power, and authenticity, than this very Hollywood movie.

Posted on December 5, 2011

Deonna Gubbins says...

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES



STARRING: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell, Meredith Droeger, Diego Velazquez, Sam Hall, Jared Harris, Patrick Bauchau, Alan Ruck and Dee Wallace



WRITTEN BY: Robert Nelson Jacobs; based on the book by Geeta Anand



DIRECTED BY: Tom Vaughan



Rated: PG

Genre: Drama

Release Date: 22 January 2010

Review Date: 21 February 2010







I won't even pretend to know the facts about Pompe disease. But what I do know is movies. And I take very much pleasure in squashing the opinions that Extraordinary Measures is a bad film and a cheesy film and that it belongs on a day-time old lady channel like Lifetime, rather than in mainstream theaters across our beautiful nation. It was fantastic.



Brendan Fraser stars as John Crowley, a father desperate to save his two children who are dying from the horrible disease. When he hears of a doctor who's been working on a cure, he attempts to call on him for help. After a very well written scene of him trying to get the hermit of a doctor on the phone, he flies to his hometown in Nebraska for a chance meeting of face to face.



Dr. Robert Stonehill is played by Harrison Ford. He's a man with the letters D and R in front of his name but rather than the victims, it's the scientific structure of the disease he finds a fascination in.



Fraser's character John is supported by his loving wife Aileen (Keri Russell). The film has received some slack in regards to their relationship being two dimensional, but I can clear that up right now with two little words: It's not. The scene they share early on, when they are interrupted by the babysitter, was more than enough to shed light on their relationship. The film doesn't dwell on their relationship, because that's not its focus. The focus is on the disease and their children dying from it.



John sees something in Stonehill regardless of his eccentric behavior and often cold personality. He works relentlessly to get him on his side and eventually it pays off. The two team-up and set forth to find a cure for this God-awful disease.



Fraser and Ford may seem like an odd match, but what they do on film together is amazing. Fraser, who is primarily known for his funnier roles, is a very talented actor. He's never overpowered by the pressure of sharing a scene with Ford and both of them deliver in every scene.



One of the things that make the film so enjoyable other than the great performances is its ability to make us cry and seconds later have us laughing out loud. This was a continuing factor throughout the film, and it's not an easy one to pull off. Extraordinary Measures could easily be the most underrated film of 2009. Don't miss it.

Posted on December 5, 2011

Dannielle Fegan says...

"I'm chasing the wind," said Crowley. A true story, then a book, now a film, is based on hope. EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES asks if it is worth risking everything for a single achievement? Love and family make risks a quick choice. For the real and movie Crowley family--it worked. For others, it might build hope. This excellent film is about defying the odds--gamble vs love--& sometimes winning. Emotional? YES! Real life is emotional.



John Crowley (Brendan Fraser), at a loss dealing with 2 children having Pompe disease (muscle illness, no Rx help, life expectancy of 9 yrs) looks to a Univ. of Nebraska Dr/researcher, Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) for help. This may be one of Ford's best performances: emotional, funny, tough. He plays a maverick, soured, calloused, aging, poorly funded researcher who finds his own heart through the Crowley family. Awesome, realistic, portrayals by both men. Not to be upstaged, the mom, Aileen (Keri Russell) has her own moments and makes this EXTRAORDINARY scenario very believable.



John mixes his emotional experience as a parent with the profit motivated Zymagen drug firm. Aileen is at his side-most of the time. Deleted scenes show there was additional marriage and stress conflict needing reconciled. A family film, but really aimed at adults--and it hits the bull's eye.

If nothing else, the movie empathizes with families dealing with a disease prior to a pharmaceutical breakthrough. That is a heart-wrenching emotional battle.



Bonus is Subtitles, even in the bonus stuff.

Extraordinary Measures: The Power to Overcome; 10 min. meeting the real Crowley family.

Meet John Crowley; again 10 min. of the real dad.

Deleted scenes; 10 minutes.



Great real life to screen adaptation, with a real "Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus" finale.

Posted on December 6, 2011

Rhonda Winston says...

This movie has good points and bad points.First the good points - Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, and the young actors who portray their children in this film do a great acting job.The movie leaves you with hope, inspiration, and applauding the determination of an extraordinary family.The bad points - Harrison Ford quickly gets irritating.In almost every scene it seems like he is yelling.Also, the storyline is predictable - just read the title of the movie and you can figure out the ending.



The premise of the movie evolves around the Crowley family who have two children born with Pompe disease.They are not expected to live past age nine, and the Crowley parents are desperately searching for anything that will help prolong the lives of or cure their children.Enter Dr. Robert Stonehill, a research scientist from Nebraska with the potential answer to their problem.Joining forces, the Crowleys and Dr. Stonehill battle the medical community and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to race against time and try to save children suffering from Pompe disease.





This movie has many uplifting moments and feel-good scenes.The fact that it is also based on real-life circumstances helps makes the movie inspirational.However, as you watch the film, you will already feel like you know everything that is going happen, which makes the movie slightly dull.Even so, it's definitely a watchable film.

Posted on December 11, 2011