OBS at the Movies

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES

Review by Ron Covington

     EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES is an example of how star power can get a film made even in today’s precarious Hollywood environment.  The star power in this case is Harrison Ford.  At 67, we still buy Ford as a charming hero and because we do, so do the folks with their fingers on the “green light” button.

     The story concerns couple John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell) with three children. Two are slowly dying of a genetic disorder that confines them to wheelchairs.  When John comes across the overlooked theoretical research of Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford) which could save his children, he pulls out all the stops to enlist the cantankerous doctor’s help.  They form a rocky alliance which gradually becomes a grudging respect and together wheel and deal to get funding from a major medical company.

     Basically, this a TV tear jerker/feel-good movie elevated to the big screen.  (This is the first project from CBS films.) The story is a strictly by-the-numbers affair.  It’s not a bad movie just a predictable one that hits all the melodramatic beats to elicit the desired results from the audience.  You have the precocious little sick girl who charms the cantankerous doctor, the villain with the British accent, the noble black man, and the 11^th hour crisis where the kids either live or die...you get the idea.

     The significant things to understand about this movie are the basic elements that allowed it to get made.  A big star plus a true story (for some reason this intrigues audiences and execs alike) plus a triumph-of-the-spirit theme equals potential big box office.  Many writers like to concern themselves with the aesthetics of a story.  Producing entities are more concerned with the financial bottom line.  To survive in this business, writers must be aware of this reality.  It doesn’t mean you have to “dumb” down your story but be ready with clever solutions to appease any producer concerns while retaining the integrity and standard of good storytelling.

Ron Covington is a former Disney and Cosby Writing Fellow.  Currently with two TV projects and a stage musical in development, he’s added executive producer to his skill set.