Brendan Fraser knows "Extraordinary Measures" will be sharing multiplex space with "Avatar" and "Sherlock Holmes" and "Leap Year." And that moviegoers might want to disappear into a sci-fi, action or rom-com universe for escape.
"Hey, look, if you want to have a cheeseburger, I love them, too, you go ahead and watch what you want to watch. But if you feel like you need something that's going to give you some food for thought, remind you what it's really like to be alive and have a sense of accomplishment," see "Extraordinary Measures," he said in a call from a publicity stop in Philadelphia.
The movie, inspired by a real family, opened last week. "This is not a movie that has any mawkish or sentimental take on the material whatsoever. That was like a golden rule: No hankie-wringing allowed, no self-pity, and that's just the stuff that is straight out of the Crowley life."
John and Aileen Crowley of Princeton, N.J., are the parents of three children, two of whom have Pompe disease, a rare genetic disease that attacks the muscles and enlarges the organs. The couple's only daughter, Megan, has it, along with their younger son, Patrick. An older son, John Jr., does not.
Megan has conquered the heart of Fraser, the off-screen father of three boys.
"Megan has never - and this is straight from John - felt sorry for herself once in her life," Fraser said. "He's watched for it; he's her dad. He told me she has never felt sorry for herself. Ever. I wish I could say the same thing."
It was Megan, in fact, who sent e-mail to Fraser with the release date of the film. "Let me tell you, Megan is a pistol."
Fraser, who plays John Crowley opposite Keri Russell as Aileen, was looking to plan his year, which includes the release of a family comedy, "Furry Vengeance" in early April.
When the actor invited the Crowleys to the premiere of his fantasy adventure "Inkheart" in January 2009, their story came alive. They arrived with special vehicles and caretaker companions to assist with such equipment as wheelchairs and ventilators.
"It was on paper for me, as a script and an idea, until I met Megan, until I absolutely was able to see who they are as individuals and to see the intelligence behind their eyes, regardless of how their bodies may have atrophied."
Thinking like a father
As a father, Fraser could understand how the New Jersey parents were driven to do anything or find anyone who could save their children's lives. "Don't expect a miracle, make one. Don't hope for one, do it. I could feel that way, too," the actor says.
Fraser is far taller and beefier than the real Crowley, who likes to joke about nosebleeds and mountain goats and who was with him on a publicity tour. "Look, we'll be together on TV; we have to come up with new tall guy-short guy jokes," the actor quipped.
He turns serious in talking about his off-screen collaborator. "He certainly is one of the most principled individuals I've ever met, an accomplished one also, at that. ... He epitomizes what it means to be a loving father and husband," Fraser said. "He is the first to admit to the challenging times," but he also raised $100 million to develop a treatment for Pompe.
"How in the world did he do that? Well, he did, he had to, that was the answer, so there. Aileen, his wife, is the one, in his view, the person who deserves all the medals."
The movie is being sold to audiences based on Fraser's name and that of Harrison Ford, who turns his attention to a research lab as a scientist. He plays a grouchy-but-brilliant loner and renegade.
Fraser said he had to put aside his hero worship of the actor who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones the first time they met. After they talked about the material and read some scenes for director Tom Vaughan, Ford "said something funny like, 'Can we stop reading now, because I don't like being bad?'
"With that, we adjourned and he walked me to the elevator and he shook my hand and he looked me square in the eye and said, 'I hope this works out,' and I said, 'I hope so, too,' and I got the call."
