Extraordinary Measures (2010)

A drama centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children's rare genetic disorder.

Director:

Tom Vaughan

Writers:

Robert Nelson Jacobs, Geeta Anand (book)

Stars:

Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fraser	...	John Crowley
Harrison Ford	...	Dr. Robert Stonehill
Keri Russell	...	Aileen Crowley
Meredith Droeger	...	Megan Crowley
Diego Velazquez	...	Patrick Crowley
Sam M. Hall	...	John Crowley, Jr.
Jared Harris	...	Dr. Kent Webber
Patrick Bauchau	...	CEO Erich Loring
Alan Ruck	...	Pete Sutphen
David Clennon	...	Dr. Renzler
Dee Wallace	...	Sal
Courtney B. Vance	...	Marcus Temple
Ayanna Berkshire	...	Wendy Temple
P.J. Byrne	...	Dr. Preston
Andrea White	...	Dr. Allegria

Storyline

A Portland couple have two children with Pompe disease, a genetic anomaly that kills most before a child's tenth birthday. The husband, John, an advertising executive, contacts Robert Stonehill, a researcher in Nebraska who has done innovative research for an enzyme treatment. He has little money to fund his laboratory, and a thorny personality that drives away colleagues and funders. John and his wife Aileen raise money to help Stonehill's research and the required clinical trials. John takes on the task full time, working with venture capitalists and then rival teams of researchers. Time is running short, Stonehill's angry outburst hinder the company's faith in him, and the profit motive may upend John's hopes. The researchers race against time for the children who have the disease.

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Plot Keywords:

disease | cure | race against time | fabrication | child in peril | 

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Taglines:

Don't hope for a miracle. Make one.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Crowley

Filming Locations:

Alameda, Portland, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$6,012,594 (USA) (22 January 2010)

Gross:

$11,854,694 (USA) (5 February 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS Films, Double Feature Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Crowley:  The real John Crowley has a cameo in the film as "Renzler Venture Capitalist #2".

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Goofs

When Patrick Crowley is throwing food to ducks at the lake, he laughs and reveals that he is missing two milky central incisors. At the end of the movie when he is in the hospital taking his medicine, he laughs again revealing that he is missing only one milky central incisor instead of two - the last scene of the movie was filmed before the first.

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Quotes

John Crowley: [Looking at the college-aged kids hired to work under Dr. Stonehill] These guys make me feel old.
Dr. Robert Stonehill: Scientists get all sensible & careful when they get old. Young ones like risk, not afraid of new ideas... & you can pay 'em less.

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Connections

Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #17.79 (2010)

User Reviews

Interesting Film

The faceplate reviewer goes out of his way to pan the leads, Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser as being too old, curmudgeonly and too fat and weepy. OK. Thanks for expressing those opinions, which, BTW, I don't share. Yes. There's no doubt this is a sentimental flick with great emotional overtones and certainly qualifies as a three hanky job. Seeing children suffer, whether they're cute, charming, cuddly or not, is not pleasant. But, the fact that there are these kinds of kids who endure the ravages of disease stemming from their own bodies is a sad reality and I would argue it takes a pretty stern person to consider these conditions unemotionally. The movie is based on a book and like any biopic, a certain amount of license is taken in bringing the story to the screen. However, the story is never maudlin. The script is full of sentiment but never slips down to the level of being overly sentimental. In effect, it's a tale of people with various agendas driven by the desperation of a father trying to help his children from dying an early death. There is no deus ex machina, here. The conflicts which impede the goal largely stem from the personal agendas of the players in the drama. Sound familiar? You bet. That's what good writing is all about and when life imitates myth, it's even better. This is a good movie. Go see it. And, if you do so without puddling up at the eyeballs, you're made of sterner stuff than me.