EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES 2.0*** (but barely)

There is nothing “extraordinary” about “Extraordinary Measures”. In fact it comes off as extraordinarily “ordinary”. This was a big disappointment given the cast of Harrison Ford, Brendon Fraser and Keri Russell.

What would you do if two of your children had been diagnosed with the very rare Pompe Disease ( a form of muscular dystrophy and you knew that the average life span for children suffering from the disease rarely goes past nine, and your daughter has just turned eight .Well you’d do everything you could like any loving parent. That’s the initial premise for this story and the father ( Fraser) with the support of his caring wife (Russell) engages in an extensive search on the internet to try to find if there is anyone who can offer hope for a quick cure. He comes upon the theories of one Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), who just may have come up with a potential vaccine to help combat the disease. The story then turns to Fraser’s efforts to enlist Ford and have him expedite his research to develop a cure before his kids die.

Ford barely does a good job of playing himself. He’s supposed to be an irascible, cranky and detached but scientifically brilliant character who lacks common sense and any feel for diplomacy. Rather than acting the part, Ford looks like he just phoned in his performance. None of the charisma, the charm or the enthusiasm we have grown to expect from him is there. Fraser is miscast as the father. He just doesn’t convey the passion and the urgency you’d expect from a desperate father with dying children. There are occasional sparks from Fraser but not the fire that should have been there. Keri Russell is fine as the mother/wife but doesn’t have much of a role…what she does have, she does well.

Overall, at best, it is a good effort for what is an interesting premise, though it has been done better before ( “Lorenzo’s Oil”). But it misses the mark primarily because it fails to draw you into the urgency and drama of the story. Instead, it has the tone of a docu-drama without the drama. It may tug on your heartstrings in some scenes, but the rest just seems forced and plodding . The team behind “Extraordinary Measures” may have had good intentions, but the end result just does not “measure” up to the basic standards of a good movie.

Clark