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Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story


Super / Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui, 2024





When I was seven years old, my parents brought me to see Superman: The Movie at the cinema. This was just a year after Star Wars, when the pop culture surrounding blockbuster fantasy or adventure films was at its apex, so the hype and anticipation were palpable, affecting all but the stodgiest of people. My mother was a huge sci-fi and adventure fan, even if her husband at the time (my step-father), didn't have much interest in films of books of that nature. Alas, even he was excited to see the film, because Superman was one of the few exceptions, with him having grown up as a big fan of the original television show. He had even admitted to having a Superman comic book collection when he was a kid.

In those days, you would get tot he theater as early as possible, only to be greeted with a line going all the way around the building and sometimes over into the strip mall parking lot next door. This was certainly the case here, as my parents wanted to see the film on one of the larger screens in Tucson at the time, which was the El Dorado theater.



Pretty sure that pic was taken during the initial Star Wars run, but you get the picture. I hated this process, and this was always the case for the massively hyped flicks back then. Alas, we finally made it in, and plopped down in our seats, which were fairly close to the front. The film started and the credits seemed to go on forever. People started cracking jokes that the credits would end up being longer than the film. Then... we saw a man fly. I recall the theater erupting into cheers many times during the film. Christopher Reeve's undeniable charisma just absolutely captured everyone in the theater. He was Superman.

This documentary celebrates the life and accomplishments of this remarkable man. The film wisely explains his tragic accident early, and then uses archival footage to fill in the periods of his career and later activism instead of attempting to build tension over time leading up to his accident, which I think would have been in poor taste. The film does a good job of portraying the gravity of his injuries and its effects on his family and friends, not to mention himself, while still managing to highlight Christopher's indomitable will and resilient spirit.

As one world expect, there are some truly heartbreaking moments here as his family describes the trials and tribulations of the years post-accident. Watching their father struggle to survive through the years as his hope for a recovery began to dwindle, all the while tirelessly advocating for his foundation for research into spinal injuries, something they continue to do to this day. While Reeve played a hero on screen, I was struck many times by his wife Dana's herculean constitution and dedication: A true hero if I have ever seen one. Anyone who knows the recent history of the Reeve family knows Dana's sad fate as well, which only heightened the sense of sadness as I watched.

This was a difficult watch, but it ended up being one of my favorite films of the year; it's too bad it received such a limited release. Track it down and watch it if you can. As I said, it's not an easy watch, but watching this film is of course nothing compared to the struggles faced by the Reeve family during the years following Christopher's accident. While it is an overall sad film, I also found parts of it quite uplifting, and I came away understanding that while Mr. Reeve played Superman on screen, he was truly also a super man.