Great performances by Fraser and Ford will pay the bills for this one but that is as far as the good news goes
Big names Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford team up with emerging director Tom Vaughan and breakthrough TV actor Keri Russell to turn out a heartfelt if uneven story about a man who wouldn’t take death lying down. Two of John Crowley’s three children were dying of a wasting disease known as Pompe Disease. The affliction is similar to muscular dystrophy and there was no cure prior to the work of Crowley and one Dr. Robert Stonehill. Apparently, the story is true. The two men bucked all of the odds of the medical establishment and became the catalyst for a drug that otherwise might never have come about.
The excellent casting starts with Fraser as the ordinary professional father and husband who is just trying to do the right thing for his family. This is a good part for the fleshy soft-spoken Fraser who comes through as a teddy bear kind of a guy who can be tough when defending his cubs. Er, his kids. Wife Keri Russell is similarly well suited to her roll. She is squeaky clean and looks ready to jump back into her Mickey Mouse Club costume at any time. This film doesn’t demand a lot from her but she does what she has to in the good mom department.
Harrison Ford is perfect as the brainy but grumpy old scientist who drives the most charming and authentic Midwest farm pickup truck and works literally in the middle of cornfields. Ford produced this film as well as playing a starring role and it would appear his producing credit was every bit as important as his acting credit. Not to get down on either Fraser or Ford but there is a not a huge dynamic going on in this story. The good guys save the kids and that’s the beginning and end of it.
It is hard to make a film about kids in wheel chairs that doesn’t, well, exploit kids in wheel chairs. This film exploits the kids in wheelchairs a little but doesn’t go overboard with it. It exploits dewy-eyed Brendan as much as the kids so at least the film is equal opportunity exploitation. Beyond that there is a very interesting inside look into the process by which pharmaceutical life saving drugs are produced in America. There is also an interesting look into the reason life saving drugs are produced. Wanna guess? Here is a clue---it is not just to save lives.
Which leads to the most important message of the film, which is that “orphan” diseases like Pompe that affect only a couple hundred thousand people don’t get the research and the life saving drugs. The lesson is that if you are going to get a fatal disease try and get one that affects many other people as well. Even better, get one that also affects the children of a drug executive who is brainy, tough and motivated.
Great supporting work for “Mad Men” cast person Jared Harris as the nasty corporate doctor who is born again through the soft eyes of teddy bear John Crowley.
Directed by: Tom Vaughan
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford and Keri Russell
Release: January 22, 2010
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