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Thursday, January 7, 2010
THE FOCUS
Harrison Ford and San Francisco Take "Extraordinary
Measures" in Red Carpet Movie Premiere
Harrison Ford, U.S. Senator Dianne
Feinstein and her husband investment banker Richard Blum at last night's red
carpet premiere of "Extraordinary Measures" in San Francisco.
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
By Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
Thursday, January 7, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO
Last night on a crisp, cool evening here in the City's Presidio District,
Lucasfilm and the Letterman Digital Arts Center gave the red carpet treatment to
"Extraordinary Measures", the debut film from the brand new CBS Films division.
Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford star in the film, which opens in theaters
nationwide in the U.S. and Canada on January 22.
Inspired by a true story of two children afflicted with Pompe's Disease, a rare
and deadly disease striking children, "Measures" tells the real-life saga of the
Crowley family's frantic, agonizing search for a cure for their two youngest
children afflicted with Pompe. Mr. Fraser plays John Crowley and Keri
Russell plays Aileen Crowley.
The red carpet event was attended by Mr. Ford, who plays Dr. Robert Stonehill,
an embattled scientist looking for respect and research funding for his tireless
work.
The leading man of many films including "Star Wars", "Indiana Jones" and
"Presumed Innocent" spoke of his bread-and-butter approach to acting in
"Extraordinary Measures". "I was looking to find things that would both
enliven the mood, contrast with Crowley, provide a conflict that we could
resolve in the context of the things that happened, and therefore sort of
thicken the soup of it all."
"Extraordinary Measures" was scripted by Robert Nelson Jacobs and based on Geeta
Anand's best-selling book The Cure. Tom Vaughan directed the
film, which has its serious and uplifting moments. Courtney B. Vance also
appears in the film as the father of a child who has Pompe.
Dr. Stonehill, a character Mr. Ford described as a composite, comes with his own
unique history, and the actor said the process was rewarding. "It was a
lot of fun because I had a lot of freedom to create a character to bring what
was necessary to the film."
Joining Mr. Ford on the red carpet event and for the film's premiere screening
were U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein of California, her husband investment banker
Richard Blum, former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, Olympic gold medalist
figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, and Patrick Willis, Parys Haralson and Takeo
Spikes of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
Also attending were San Francisco's current mayor Gavin Newsom and his wife,
actress, director and humanitarian Jennifer Siebel
Newsom, who gave birth to the couple's first child last August. Ms.
Newsom is currently directing a documentary entitled "Miss Representation",
about the depiction of women in politics and media.
Said Mayor Newsom, "I was very honored that they chose [Lucasfilm's Letterman
Digital Arts Center] as a venue for the film. And I'm a big fan personally
of Harrison Ford, not just as an actor, but the work he's done, particularly on
the environment, for decades." The mayor noted Mr. Ford as the first
high-profile American actor to
raise serious awareness about the planet's fragility, and be a dedicated
activist for environmental causes, fervently advocating the need for green
energy, dating as far back as the 1970s.
In a lighter moment on this mid-week evening, Mayor Newsom was asked: which
would he recommend to his daughter to have a career in -- acting or politics?
"Neither! And that's definitive!"
Photo gallery of last night's event:
click here
"Extraordinary Measures" opens across the U.S. and Canada on January 22.