Extraordinary Measures
Encyclopedia
Extraordinary Measures is a 2010 medical drama film starring Brendan Fraser
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...

, Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...

, and Keri Russell
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...

. It is distributed by CBS Films
CBS Films
CBS Films is an American film production company founded in 2007, a feature film division of CBS Corporation. CBS Films is located on Wilshire Boulevard in West Los Angeles.-Company history:...

 and was released on January 22, 2010. It is about parents who form a biotechnology company to develop a drug to save the lives of their children, who have a life-threatening disease. The film is based on the true story of John and Aileen Crowley
John Crowley (biotech executive)
John Francis Crowley is an American biotechnology executive and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of several biotech companies devoted to curing genetic diseases.-Life and career:...

, whose children have Pompe's disease. The film was shot in St. Paul, Oregon
St. Paul, Oregon
St. Paul is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is named after the Saint Paul Mission founded by Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet, who arrived in the Oregon Territory in 1838 to minister to the Catholic inhabitants of French Prairie. The population was 354 at the 2000 census...

, Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, the Corner Saloon in Tualatin, Oregon, and Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...

 as well as Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

. It is the first film to go into production for CBS Films, the film division of CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...

.

Plot

Brendan Fraser plays John Crowley
John Crowley (biotech executive)
John Francis Crowley is an American biotechnology executive and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of several biotech companies devoted to curing genetic diseases.-Life and career:...

, a biotechnology executive whose two youngest children were afflicted with Pompe disease
Glycogen storage disease type II
Glycogen storage disease type II is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which damages muscle and nerve cells throughout the body. It is caused by an accumulation of glycogen in the lysosome due to deficiency of the lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase enzyme...

 or acid maltase deficiency. In the film his children are aged 9 and 7.

Along with his wife Aileen (Keri Russell
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...

), he raises money for research scientist Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...

), forming a company to develop a drug to save his children's lives.

Adapted by Robert Nelson Jacobs from a nonfiction book "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million—and Bucked the Medical Establishment—in a Quest to Save His Children" by the Pulitzer Prize journalist Geeta Anand
Geeta Anand
Geeta Anand is a journalist and author who writes for the Wall Street Journal, and was formerly a political writer for the Boston Globe. For her work at the Wall Street Journal she shared in 2003 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting that was awarded to the Wall Street Journal staff...

, the film is also an examination of how medical research is conducted and financed.

Cast

  • Brendan Fraser
    Brendan Fraser
    Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...

     as John Crowley
    John Crowley (biotech executive)
    John Francis Crowley is an American biotechnology executive and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of several biotech companies devoted to curing genetic diseases.-Life and career:...

  • Harrison Ford
    Harrison Ford
    Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...

     as Dr. Robert Stonehill
  • Keri Russell
    Keri Russell
    Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...

     as Aileen Crowley
  • Courtney B. Vance
    Courtney B. Vance
    Courtney Bernard Vance is an American actor. He was formerly a regular on the NBC/USA television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver. He was also a series regular on the ABC series FlashForward. As of 2011, he appears on the TNT series The Closer as Chief...

     as Marcus Temple
  • Meredith Droeger as Megan Crowley
  • Diego Velazquez as Patrick Crowley
  • Sam M. Hall as John Crowley, Jr.
  • Patrick Bauchau
    Patrick Bauchau
    Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau is a Belgian actor.-Early life:Bauchau was born in Brussels, the son of Mary , a Russian-born school administrator and publisher, and Henry Bauchau, a school administrator, publisher, writer, and psychoanalyst who served as an officer in the Belgian...

     as Eric Loring
  • Jared Harris
    Jared Harris
    Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...

     as Dr. Kent Webber
  • Alan Ruck
    Alan Ruck
    Alan Ruck is an American film, stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stuart Bondek on Spin City.-Early life:...

     as Pete Sutphen
  • David Clennon
    David Clennon
    David Clennon is an American actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Miles Drentel in the ABC series Thirtysomething, a role he reprised on Once and Again....

     as Dr. Renzler
  • Dee Wallace as Sal
  • Ayanna Berkshire as Wendy Temple
  • P. J. Byrne
    P. J. Byrne
    Paul Jeffrey "P. J." Byrne is an American television actor, most known for his recurring role of Irv Smiff Sachs on the sitcom The Game....

     as Dr. Preston
  • Andrea White
    Andrea White
    Andrea White is an American novelist and civic leader, and the wife of Bill White, the former Mayor of Houston, Texas and the unsuccessful candidate for governor of Texas in 2010.- Biography :...

     as Dr. Allegria
  • G. J. Echternkamp as Niles
  • Vu Pham as Vinh Tran
  • Derek Webster
    Derek Webster
    Derek Webster can refer to:* Derek Webster .* the publisher and editor of Maisonneuve magazine....

     as Cal Dunning


John Crowley
John Crowley (biotech executive)
John Francis Crowley is an American biotechnology executive and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of several biotech companies devoted to curing genetic diseases.-Life and career:...

 makes a cameo appearance as a venture capitalist.

Production

Filming took place at several spots in and around Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, mostly at the OHSU
Oregon Health & Science University
Oregon Health & Science University is a public university in Oregon with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland and a smaller campus in Hillsboro...

 Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Doernbecher Children's Hospital is a children's hospital located in Portland, Oregon, and associated with Oregon Health & Science University.The first full-service children's hospital in the Pacific Northwest, Doernbecher provides full-spectrum pediatric care. The hospital opened in 1926 on...

, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Nike campus in Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...

. This was the first time Nike allowed filming on their campus and they donated the location payment to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. During filming, the working title was The Untitled Crowley Project.

In the film, the children are 9 and 7 years old. Their non-fiction counterparts were diagnosed at 15 months and 7 days old and received treatment at 5 and 4, respectively.

Inspiration

Myozyme, a drug developed for treating Pompe disease
Glycogen storage disease type II
Glycogen storage disease type II is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which damages muscle and nerve cells throughout the body. It is caused by an accumulation of glycogen in the lysosome due to deficiency of the lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase enzyme...

, was simultaneously approved for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. Henceforth, more than 1000 infants born worldwide every year with Pompe disease will no longer face the prospect of death before reaching their first birthday for lack a treatment for the condition.

The screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs
Robert Nelson Jacobs
Robert Nelson Jacobs is an American screenwriter. In 2000, he received an Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay for Chocolat.-Biography:...

 is based on Geeta Anand
Geeta Anand
Geeta Anand is a journalist and author who writes for the Wall Street Journal, and was formerly a political writer for the Boston Globe. For her work at the Wall Street Journal she shared in 2003 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting that was awarded to the Wall Street Journal staff...

's book The Cure (ISBN 9780060734398). Parts of the book first appeared as a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal.

The small start-up company Priozyme was based on Oklahoma City-based Novazyme. The larger company, called Zymagen in the film, was based on Genzyme
Genzyme
Genzyme Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Before its acquisition, Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010, Genzyme was the world’s third-largest biotechnology company, employing more than 11,000 people around the world...

 in Cambridge, MA. Novazyme was developing a protein therapeutic, with several gene patents
Gene patents
A gene patent is a patent on a specific isolated gene sequence, its chemical composition, the processes for obtaining or using it, or a combination of such claims...

 pending, to treat Pompe Disease, when it was bought by Genzyme. The patent portfolio was cited in the press releases announcing the deal.

According to Genzyme
Genzyme
Genzyme Corporation is a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis. Before its acquisition, Genzyme was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2010, Genzyme was the world’s third-largest biotechnology company, employing more than 11,000 people around the world...

, Dr. Robert Stonehill's character is based upon scientist and researcher William Canfield
William Canfield
William Canfield is a glycobiologist, chief scientific officer and founder of an Oklahoma City-based biotechnology company, Novazyme, which was acquired by Genzyme in August 2001 and developed, among other things, an enzyme that can stabilize Pompe disease, based on Canfield's ongoing research...

, who founded Novazyme. Roger Ebert, in his review, says the character is based on Yuan-Tsong Chen, a scientist and researcher from Duke University who collaborated with Genzyme in producing Myozyme, the drug which received FDA approval.

Box office

The film opened at #8 on its opening weekend, taking in $6 million. The film experienced sharp declines and only remained in theaters for four weeks as it only earned $12 million, making it a box office disappointment.

Critical reviews

The film opened to mixed reviews. Richard Corliss of Time Magazine wrote: "Fraser keeps the story anchored in reality. Meredith Droeger does too: as the Crowleys' afflicted daughter, she's a smart little bundle of fighting spirit. So is the movie, which keeps its head while digging into your heart. You have this critic's permission to cry in public." The New York Times' A.O. Scott said in his review: "The startling thing about “Extraordinary Measures” is not that it moves you. It’s that you feel, at the end, that you have learned something about the way the world works." Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 reports that 27% of 132 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
Average
In mathematics, an average, or central tendency of a data set is a measure of the "middle" value of the data set. Average is one form of central tendency. Not all central tendencies should be considered definitions of average....

 of 4.8 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critics", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 20%, based on a sample of 25 reviews. The site's general consensus is that "Despite a timely topic and a pair of heavyweight leads, Extraordinary Measures never feels like much more than a made-for-TV tearjerker."
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns a weighted average score out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 46 based on 30 reviews.

Ramona Bates MD, writing for the health news organisation, EmaxHealth, stated that the film brings attention to Pompe Disease. Peter Rainer from the Christian Science Monitor mentions that Big Pharma got a surprisingly free pass in the film and that it will come as a surprise to all those sufferers struggling to get orphan drugs developed.

Jef Akst, writing for the journal, The Scientist, stated that the film is good depiction of the "hard to swallow fiscal issues of drug development."
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