Review: Extraordinary Measures Is Extra Ordinary

Indiana Bones? Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser in a medical thriller about raising venture capital that's soooo not money

Review in a Hurry: It's tough to make a compelling movie about enzyme synthesis, even when you have the added attraction of Harrison Ford in full caricature mode. Save for his star power, this debut theatrical feature for CBS Films feels like it belongs on Lifetime instead.

The Bigger Picture: Brendan Fraser, in what appears to be a full-on segue into the "middle-aged dad" phase of his career, plays a pharmaceutical marketer named John with two seriously unhealthy kids. They suffer from Pompe disease, a form of muscular dystrophy that rarely lets anyone live beyond the age of 9.

Scouring the research papers on the subject, he discovers Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford), one of those Hollywood-template "eccentrics" who likes to drink Budweiser and listen to rock 'n' roll music while they work, behavior which is apparently so bizarre in movie land that it drives everyone around him crazy. "Inspired by true events," indeed.

Stonehill is on a different research track than everyone else...one so different, it just might work. But he doesn't have the funding, and that's an area where John can help.

So, show of hands: How many of you saw the poster, with its image of Fraser and Ford running determinedly down a corridor, and realized you were in for a film about the raising of venture capital for lab work? Us neither. Director Tom Vaughan is known primarily for the romantic comedies What Happens in Vegas and Starter For 10; this shift into drama is adequate but uninspired. Still, given the material, the fact that this thing is even remotely watchable could be seen as kind of a triumph.

Ford, all finger-pointing, nickname-calling, and righteous-scowling, has become his own self-impersonation, but it's not clear that he knows it yet (see also: Cage, Nicolas). Since the outcome of the movie is never in any doubt, he's the only reason to watch. Besides, Fraser made all those Mummy movies that were borderline Indiana Jones rip-offs, so he deserves to get berated by the real Indy, even if the price they have to pay is being in a movie about making medicine.

The 180–A Second Opinion: The moment where John meets with corporate bosses who ask him about "acceptable losses" relative to profit margins is a nice little jab at big pharma—and they deserve it.