A couple of weeks ago, I had the "pleasure" of seeing Extraordinary Measures. You will understand in a little while why I used the quotation marks around the word pleasure.
I had actually been looking forward to seeing this movie because of the trailers that I had seen. I am a HUGE Harrison Ford fan and a pretty big Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell fan, so the thought of all three of them together in one movie made me want to see the film.
However, being that this was not a action film, like Brendan and Harrison are normally cast in, the selection of this movie was soon determined to be a mistake.
The movie was rated PG, so I was expecting a movie with no swearing, a good plot, and a few heart rending moments, seeing as how it is based on a true story, and is the story of a family that has 2 children plagued with a disease that kills kids before they reach teenage status.
Extraordinary Measures can definitely tug at your heartstrings, as it sucks you into its web the moment that you sit down when you see the two kids in wheelchairs and hooked up to breathing tubes.
The movie, however, did not deliver on the no swearing that is normally associated with PG movies. I believe I counted 25 different swear words, and cringed on more than one occasion because of hearing a string of profanity. And it was not the "normal"(if I can use such a term) swear words associated with PG films; the only swear word that I did not hear was the f-word. Yes, you read that right; this PG film used basically the whole gamut of profanity (which included the actual words for bastige, heck, darn, crap, sob, and even God darn). Considering the fact that every time that you saw Harrison Ford on screen, he was swearing, it almost made me want to get up out of my seat and leave the theater and try to go see The Princess and the Frog. Now, if you don't know my stance on profanity in movies, please go read my blog entitled "Why, Hollywood, Why" and you will understand why I am offended by any profanity in movies.
Concerning the plot, it was a fairly straight-forward plot: parents want a cure for their children, one parent finds a doctor who has a theoretical cure, and they spend the rest of the movie trying to perfect it and release it so the parents' children can get better. And of course, the drama is there with problems with funding; one child on her deathbed. But, having said that, I had a hard time accepting Brendan Fraser as a viable dramatic performer. I believe this is his first movie that was not either a comedy or a action film, and it definitely showed. His attempt at being dramatic consisted mainly of him squinting up his eyes and saying his lines. Harrison Ford and Keri Russell, on the other hand, both gave fairly good performances, but they were brought down by being in the scene with Brendan.
All in all, this is a movie that will find its home on Lifetime or the Hallmark channel, and may warrant watching when it comes onto basic cable; but, I cannot in good faith recommend anyone buying this movie unless they have to have every movie that one of the main actors is in.
Plot: 7.5/10
Humor: 8/10
Family Friendly Language: 2/10
"Family Friendly" Violence: 10/10
Nudity/Suggestive Situations: 9.5/10
Overall Movie Rating: 7.4/10
Disagree with what I have to say? Please leave your comments below or send me an e-mail at childofking88@aol.com
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