Researchers will select six children between the ages of 3 and 16 who have been diagnosed with Pompe disease and depend on ventilators to breathe, even with enzyme replacement therapy. For years, Byrne and others have attacked Pompe and other glycogen storage diseases on two fronts developing replacement enzymes that could be administered intravenously and developing gene therapies that would enable the body to produce the enzymes itself. The crushing blow turned out to be a rallying call. The Crowleys were told the grim news that 15-month-old Megan had a rare muscle-wasting condition, Pompe disease. Fate and determination push idealistic father, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy) into joining forces with reclusive medical researcher, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, Best Actor in a leading role, Witness, 1985). But all is not well. Rent $3.99 Buy $12.99 Trailers Trailer Ratings and Reviews 5.0 out of 5 1 Rating 28% TOMATOMETER The PG rating is for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment.Latest news about Extraordinary Measures, starring Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Harrison Ford and directed by Tom Vaughan. Truth is often more compelling than fiction, and filmgoers love a heartfelt human interest story, but true stories don't automatically make great movies. What does he mean? Good medical drama with an excellent performance by Harrison Ford - but could've have been much better Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Trailer Failure: Extraordinary Measures, Crazy on the Outside, and Bitch Slap. See production, box office & company info, (book "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million - And Bucked the Medical Establishment - in a Quest to Save His Children"). With the prognosis looking bad for the Crowley kids, Dr. Stonehill tells John to enjoy them while he still can. As for the Crowleys, beyond Thursday's glitzy New York premiere, they look forward to a rosy future. What would you risk for the lives of your children or loved ones? Unfortunately, this advice comes too late for the new subsidiary CBS Films, which is launching its theatrical endeavors with the disease-of-the-week drama Extraordinary Measures. Just as his career is taking off, he learns that his two youngest kids. With the support of his wife, John ditches his career and teams with unconventional specialist, Dr. Robert Stonehill to found a bio-tech company and develop a cure in time to save the lives of his children. Fraser's executive, John Crowley, secures funding that helps Dr. Robert Stonehill, a crusty scientific genius played by. Directors. This task proves very daunting for Stonehill, who already works around the clock. UF actually owns the patent on several AAV-related gene therapy protocols. In Extraordinary Measures, Ford manages to keep some of that wry rebellious Indiana Jones energy as he plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a fringe researcher whose findings just might help keep alive the two children of John Crowley, played with heart and sobriety by Brendan Fraser. Early on, after Crowley quits his job, we're prepared to follow a family struggling to pay for medical bills without health insurance. Extraordinary Measures was a Nationwide release in 2010 on Friday, January 22, 2010 in around 2,549 theaters. Researchers will focus on the safety of the treatment and try to determine an optimum dosage. The film chronicles the couple's inspirational battle to find a cure for the terrible disease that affects their children. It was the first film produced by CBS Films, the film division of CBS Corporation, who released the film on January 22, 2010. John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is a man on the corporate fast-track, with a beautiful wife (Keri Russell) and three children. By making Megan Crowley ( Meredith Droeger) a wise and cheerful 9-year old, "Extraordinary Measures" improves her as a story element. The exception to that last comes in the form of Extraordinary Measures executive producer Harrison Ford, co-starring as a crotchety, eccentric University Of Nebraska researcher whose theories make Crowleys task possible, but whose recalcitrance and flakiness put up constant barriers. Inspired by the book "The Cure" by Greeta Anand. Make one." In a first-in-humans gene therapy for neuromuscular disease, clinical scientists led by Byrne will infect cells of Pompe patients with the genetic machinery they have been missing since birth. Without him, it would barely be a movie. Research Grants: This year we received 41 researcher-initiated proposals, nearly double the number in a typical year. In disease treatment we always think prevention is better and easier than reversal, but we dont always have the opportunity to prevent some diseases, Byrne says. ?s book, "Chasing Miracles" (Newmarket Press), is available Feb. 2. Without the medicine they developed, Megan, Patrick and thousands more. Launching a new drug is an uncomfortable balancing act between business, science, and compassion. John's business developed a drug that showed promising results. She had no idea that something out of the ordinary was happening to her until a routine visit to a doctor, who noticed she couldnt stand up from a seated position without using the armrests of her chair to support herself. Stars: Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Keri. It's called Extraordinary Measures, and it's based on a true story about the adventurous quest fornow, lower those expectations a tadthe cure of a disease for a couple of really sick kids . "[16] 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 been an incredible journey," says John, 42, a businessman from Princeton, N.J., played in the movie by Brendan Fraser. Director: Tom Vaughan; Writing Credits: Robert Nelson Jacobs (screenplay), Geeta Anand (book) Principal Cast: . The family spent every waking moment researching the disease. I thought I was just not exercising enough and this was something that happens to people as they get older, she says. File:Extraordinary measures poster2 4463.jpg. If only it were that simple. If they celebrated their 10th birthdays, it would be a miracle. Director Jon Erwin discusses his inspiration for the film and how history might be repeating itself today. Complete access to articles on ChristianityToday.com, Over 120 years of magazine archives plus full access to all of CTs online archives. Extraordinary Measures. Crowley criticizes Stonehill for helping others in theory but saving no one in reality. Astonishingly, the medicine worked. The best they could hope for was to have Patrick and Megan breathe through ventilators with round-the-clock care. Sadly, it all adds up to an extraordinary bore. When you have parents like John and Aileen, big dreams can pay off. Anything to show instead of tell would have helped. That's where the emotion of hope would fit in. Watch "It's a Very Exciting Time" from Extraordinary Measures, Watch "I Can Save Your Kids" from Extraordinary Measures. We witness Megan's joyful birthday party, family outings to a bowling alley and a park, domestic scenes of good-humored teasing and bedtime reading. Details have been dramatized for Extraordinary Measures. "I thought there were smarter and better people than me who could do this. What is the life expectancy of a Pompe patient in real life. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 29% based on reviews from 142 critics and an average rating of 4.88 out of 10. As time is running short, Stonehill's angry outburst hinders the company's faith in him, and the profit motive may upend John's hopes. Trailer. The most common cause of blindness in infants and children, LCA2 occurs when photoreceptor cells cannot respond to light because a gene called RPE65 does not properly produce a protein necessary for healthy vision. His antics (including temper tantrums, social obliviousness, and egocentric mayhem) give the film most of its flavor, but thats by design: His character was wholly invented for the movie, as a foil and drama-inciter. In many areas of medicine, a combination of treatments is used to benefit the patient, and we hope the gene therapy approach will work in the same way.. Inspired by the book "The Cure" by Greeta Anand. Free shipping for many products! Is there a spiritual parallel to sharing faith? A drama centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children's rare genetic disorder. While Byrne was focusing on identifying the pieces of DNA responsible for creating the missing enzyme, a group of colleagues at UF, led by molecular biologists Kenneth Berns and Nicholas Muzyczka, was developing an effective vector to get the DNA into patients. Time is running out for 8-year-old Megan and 6-year-old Patrick, both confined to wheelchairs. Now, patients who are given the drug at birth have dramatically improved muscle control and a much longer life expectancy. Critics Consensus: Despite a timely topic and a pair of heavyweight leads, Extraordinary Measures never feels like much more than a made-for-TV tearjerker. Nevertheless, Crowley gives it his all: "I can't just sit there while my kids are dying." Woburn, MA 01888 U.S.A. 75 North Main Street, Suite 1073 Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell. All rights reserved. and I respond: 'How can you not?' There were 5 other movies released on the same date, . Most people in this position would do anything they possibly could for their kids.". While their older son, John Jr., then 3, was healthy, his newborn brother, Patrick, also suffered. Fate and determination push idealistic father, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) into joining forces with reclusive medical researcher, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Watching its production was, alternately, an unreal, thrilling, and deeply emotional experience for the Crowley family. It's that you feel, at the end, that you have learned something about the way the world works. There needs to be financial backing, exhaustive scientific studies, industrial support, and FDA approval. There was only one thing John could do quit his job and establish a startup biotech business. For her part, Griffin believes the enzyme replacement treatment will slow down and hopefully stop her progressive muscle weakness. Is "Extraordinary Measures" based on a book? Good medical drama with an excellent performance by Harrison Ford - but could've have been much better Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Trailer Failure: Extraordinary Measures, Crazy on the Outside, and Bitch Slap. Byrne believed that by transferring corrective genes to Pompe patients, physicians might be able to free them from ventilators and improve their quality of life. Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser star in this true story of the power of love and faith against impossible odds. The small start-up company Priozyme was based on Oklahoma City-based Novazyme. Children with Pompe disease often do not live beyond the age of 2. While the enzyme replacement therapy now available treats the symptoms of the disease, it does not address the underlying problem of the missing gene. 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