Extraordinary Measures

CBS Films | Release Date: January 22, 2010

6.6	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Ratings

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MarkV.Jan 30, 2010

Wow! Great movie. One of the best I've ever seen. Way better than I expected. This is a wonderful example of real storytelling. Not the fake stuff where CGI and violence are mistaken for "good storytelling." Such a refreshing cinematic Wow! Great movie. One of the best I've ever seen. Way better than I expected. This is a wonderful example of real storytelling. Not the fake stuff where CGI and violence are mistaken for "good storytelling." Such a refreshing cinematic experience. I was pleasantly surprised. Fraser, Ford and the young actress Droeger all gave outstanding performances. I found Fraser very believable as the father. This is the best work I've ever seen from him. He did a fantastic job conveying the emotions of a father who knows he could lose his children at any moment, but is determined to save them at all costs. His performance was so subtle and very realistic. Droeger was adorable! She really stood out. Meredith Droeger. Remember that name. The kid's got major talent. Ford was good also. He nailed the role of a grumpy, anti-social scientist. That's the character... and Ford nailed it. I'll definitely be seeing this one again. I wish Hollywood would make more films like this that reflect the best parts of humanity. This is a movie that was perfectly scripted, perfectly cast, and perfectly acted. Based on a true story. Love it! Beautiful. Fantastic movie.… Expand

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ChadSJan 24, 2010

Since neither Harrison Ford nor Brendan Fraser speak in a thick Italian accent, how could "Extraordinary Measures" ever begin to measure up with George Miller's much-lauded "Lorenzo's Oil"? It can't, but that's okay, Since neither Harrison Ford nor Brendan Fraser speak in a thick Italian accent, how could "Extraordinary Measures" ever begin to measure up with George Miller's much-lauded "Lorenzo's Oil"? It can't, but that's okay, since this story about the cure for Pompei disease will absorb the moviegoer, despite both actors' boring American accents, with its pointed depiction of the politics and commerce that comes with the territory of the drug manufacturing business. For the most part, such misshapen priorities practiced by these biochemical overseers help transform the inevitable melodrama generated by the Crowleys(Fraser and Keri Russell) and their dying moppets into real drama, because most people are sick and tired of greedy corporate types. John Crowley, a corporate suit himself, knows how the game is played, in which saving lives can sometimes be an afterthought to the more pressing matter of long-term profitability. He plays the game. Dr. Stonehill(Harrison Ford), the scientist that John recruits from the University of Nebraska, on the other hand, abhors compromise, and it's this dynamic between the commonsensiblist and the naif that drives this imperfect film toward near-transcendence of the made-for-television trappings that the sick child sub-genre of "chick-flicks" entails. Apart from the visual flair of the "Mad Max" helmer, what really busted "Lorenzo's Oil" out from the Lifetime movie ghetto were the harrowing scenes that depicted the boy's degenerative ailment as a trial of hellish proportions, which went beyond the by-the-numbers emotional manipulation of doomed children battling their oncoming untimely demises. The moviegoer felt Lorenzo's pain, and the parents' pain, in spades, because the kid really looked like he was dying. The filmmaker wasn't going for a die-cute, like the little boy in "Extraordinary Measures" who can't throw bread to a pond full of ducks, or the little girl who needs help winning a stuffed penguin from a carnival game. Only the hardest of hearts, however, won't respond to this shameless, but effective attempt, to garner audience sympathy. So while rallying moviegoers to root for dying children is like shooting fish in a barrel, "Extraordinary Measures" does manage to put capitalism on trial, in scenes such as the one where John takes desperate measures to save his children, after he's told what is and what's not cost-efficient.… Expand