Wonderful character development!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Just what I expected

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This film gives a pretty thorough look at the hard truth about the pharmaceutical/medical industries. It is no place for renegades (Ford's character) or idealists (Fraser's character). Even so, these two unlikely associates, through their reputations, talents and determination, manage to parlay themselves into the world of multi-million dollar clinical trials.Brendon Fraser did a superb acting job, and John Crowley manages to retain his integrity and manners while under intense pressure from several sources. Harrison Ford was not given the chance to flex his muscle, though. If his character had been made to have been a more dynamic and less-misanthropic researcher, the movie would have been more entertaining. I think the director and screenwriter handcuffed Harrison Ford's character a bit. I can forgive this, because I know that in reality, avoidant people like Dr. Stillwell do exist. I also think the audience could have benefited from a little bit more technical talk: There was very little talk of exactly what they were doing in the lab. Never-the-less, Extraordinary Measures is an extremely good film for those of us who appreciate being inspired by our art. Brendan has come a long way from Encino Man, and with Extraordinary Measures, as in the earlier Still Breathing, he shows us once again that he is very good at dramatic roles.One final note: It would have been nice for the screen dialogue at the end of the film to have included some background on the disease and its present numbers. More importantly, we would have liked to have learned more about the present status of the enzyme transport drug: How many have benefited from it? Only infants? How much money does it cost, etc. A movie well worth watching.

But as always it has been heightened or changed a bit for dramatic purposes obviously. I also have to admit, that when I first saw the poster for this I thought it would be a thriller. Turns out it is a drama, about a disease that affected people (especially kids) to a large extent. It's not really giving anything away, talking about the story in this case, because you can see where this is going from very early on/the beginning.But let's talk about the actors: Harrison Ford is only supporting actor in this, but he's having a lot of fun. The girl actress is also very good and natural. All those things help elevate the movie above some of the cliché turns it takes (over-dramatization). All in all, you'd be very hard not to feel anything for the characters in this story. Decent enough effort to bring the real story to the screen. Would like to see a documentary about this though (the real life incident, not the making of the movie).

I do not find movie about sick children entertaining, Even less so, if based on a real story of suffering. I stumbled upon this movie on TV and thinking it was a thriller I started watching it. Big mistake. Turned out, it was the "fictional" version of the story of a rich guy with two children, sick with a rare genetic disease and his efforts to save them. Very noble in the intent, but noble intents do not necessarily make good movies. If anything, this is a very manipulative one, in between the fine line dividing inspirational and delusional. A documentary would have been more appropriate. Brendan Fraser never looked puffier.

Based on Geeta Anand's book, Tom Vaughan's 'Extraordinary Measures' starts off like the typical Hollywood film. With the formulaic score and introduction of the protagonist as a successful executive with a happy family..until one sees that the two youngest children of the protagonists are suffering from Pompe's disease, an illness that atrophies the muscle and nerve cells and leads to death. The doctors aren't optimistic about the prognosis of the disease for which there's no found cure. However, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) isn't giving up and he pursues researcher Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) who may have the answer to the solution.The film does tend to be sentimental at times and it does occasionally resemble the 'TV film of the week' but what drives it are the performances. Fraser's performance has been criticized for being too emotional while Russell was criticized for the opposite. But I don't see why characters have to be gender-stereotyped to be realistic. Why is it impossible for the mother to be more controlled and the father to be more vocal and demonstrative about feelings? That said, I did feel that Keri Russell's role was underdeveloped even though the actress does a brilliant job with what she's given. I also would have liked to see more of Harrison Ford who was simply terrific as the stubborn and fiercely independent Stonehill. Brendan Fraser is great as the father and husband who won't give up at any cost. Of the supporting cast, Courtney B. Vance stands out.Flawed it may be...the pacing is uneven and at times the film loses track. The execution is fairly ordinary but not intrusive. The picture does provide some insight on an illness that isn't so commonly known but at times it confuses the viewer with half-baked explanations. However, the performances lift 'Extraordinary Measures' from being an average flick.